


What it means to be Black

by Go_get_Jakes_gun



Category: Charming (2018), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (isn't it always?), Anger, Angst, Arranged Marriages, Averys are Royal, Bad Parents, Bad Porn, Blacks are Royal, Crouches are Royal, Everyone has SOME magic, F/M, Guys can get pregnant, Hurt and comfort, Jealousy, Lestranges are Royal, M/M, Malfoys are Royal, Medieval AU, Notts are Royal, Or so one would think, Protective Sirius Black, Quest, Regulus centric, Regulus is too soft, Royalty, Sirius doesn't rebel, Sirius is cursed, Sirius's love interest is a SPOILER, Sirius/Someone, Some people are immune to Sirius, They're still wizards, Walburga and Orion aren't as bad in canon because blood purity isn't a thing when everyone has magic, black brothers, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-06-26 07:21:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15658467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Go_get_Jakes_gun/pseuds/Go_get_Jakes_gun
Summary: Two decades ago, when the Blacks annexed Bagshot Island, the evil witch Bathilda Bagshot cursed the Black Family. But when curses don't turn out as expected and hearts are being broken left, right and centre, how much can the Black Family take before Grimmauld Palace comes crumbling down.





	1. An engagement has been set

**Author's Note:**

> This work was inspired by the movie Charming.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **Note, some people ARE immune to Sirius's charm**

Sirius Black was the crowned prince of the Black Kingdom, eighteen years old, and heavily, _heavily_ cursed.

 

The curse was payback for the Black Family’s annexation of Bagshot Island just two decades ago, when King Orion Black had gone on a bit of a spree taking over weak surrounding territories such as the Riddle Land and Bagshot Island in order to spread their influence and better protect themselves from potential betrayal to the other Main/Major Kingdoms.

 

It had been disguised as a gift. It had had to have been, as the curse would not have worked without the approval of the newborn’s parents. It made Sirius irresistible to those who looked at him~ well, who looked him in the _face_ , specifically, regardless of gender or age (though those under the age of around thirteen seemed to have a milder reaction). To most, this may not seem like a curse. Universal irresistibility? Sign me up! Except, when everyone is head over heels for you, and for _obvious_ reasons not everybody can have you, they tend to get violent with one another, sometimes resulting in death. Add that to the fact that since everyone is lusting over you, nobody’s willing to be ‘just friends’ and you wind up with a pretty sad, lonely life.

 

Thankfully, in Sirius’s case, there were a few people who were immune to his ‘charm.’ His family, for one; a knight destined to be Lord of the North of the Black Kingdom (Gods that was a shitty title) aka James; his grandfather’s servant, Remus; and a page, Peter. Due to his curse he was, understandably, not permitted to go outside of his wing, and whilst he understood his parents’ reasoning for this, it didn’t make it any easier on him. For that reason he and James and his friends (aka the only people other than his family _not_ in _freaking_ love with him) had conjured up a map of the castle that allowed him to watch people in the castle moving about, which enabled him to sneak out of his wing without running into people. Remus and James had talked about extending it to encompass the kingdom so that, for the first time in Sirius’s life, he could be free of the four large walls surrounding him.

 

He had hope, though. When the curse had been placed, his parents had been frantic, doing their best to find a cure. They'd gone so far as to track down the Great Oracle, Cassandra Trelawney. The last prophecy the woman had made before death, told of Sirius requiring a soulmate to break the curse: _true love’s kiss, the most ancient of curse cures_.

 

The problem was that when _everyone_ who met you fell in love with you (with a few exceptions, clearly), _and_ you were _never allowed to leave the castle_ , finding your soul mate was kind of impossible. All that he had to go on was a mirror that would supposedly glow red in the presence of his supposed loved one, that and a small tattoo of a heart that he had on his palm~ but _that_ was ‘a lot of help’, yeah, _especially_ given that every member of the Border Guard of Le Strange had the same tattoo on theirs. Great, so that meant that at best it was between about 50,000 men, unless of course his soulmate had already died.

 

This was an issue for the entire kingdom. It’s not like his parents could just make his younger brother, Regulus, King. Doing so would disturb the natural order, and besides the Kingdom would never accept it. Not whilst the true heir lived. His parents could, of course, just have him executed, of course, except that that was _extremely_ taboo, and if his parents were to do it they would a) incur the wrath of the gods and b) incur the wrath of the people.

 

Besides, as much as he loved his annoying, pain-in-the-ass little brother, even he had to admit that Regulus was too soft to make a good king. Maybe a consort though, from what he had heard from his parents during dinner (which the entire family had together) they were considering marrying him off to Bartemius Crouch Jr., Regulus’s best-friend and future king of Crouch Land.

 

Sirius personally couldn’t see his brother in an arranged marriage (and _no_ , regardless of what James said he was _not_ just being an overprotective older brother). Besides, Regulus and Barty were _friends_ , nothing more. There was _no way_ that Reg was dating that little piece of shite. Besides, whilst he figured that Barty might be bi, he _definitely_ did not lean towards men and was most likely hoping to marry a _woman_.

 

The sad part was that even though he _knew_ that Reg felt nothing towards Barty, he knew that his idiot brother would probably go along with it to please their parents. This was why he thought that Regulus would make a terrible king. Where was his brother’s integrity?

 

It was just another reason why he was the Heir, and Regulus was the Spare.

 

.

 

“Regulus,” Walburga purred, sitting down her youngest.

 

He was a handsome boy (though not as handsome as his brother~ though Walburga felt inclined to point out that he had yet to complete puberty) smaller than his brother, but far brighter and certainly more adept at magic (though not as good as Sirius at combat spells, she had to admit). One might think it odd for a mother to compare her sons in such away, but when you constantly have a bitter reminder that one of them may never be able to perform their birthright whilst trying to way the pros and cons of each as a ruler, it tends to happen.

 

“Yes, mother?”

 

“Your father and I need to speak to you.”

 

“Where is he?”

 

“Right here,” Orion walked in.

 

“Father,” Regulus jumped to his feet and bowed.

 

“Regulus, son,” his father nodded in acknowledgement. “The time has come for you to fix our family.”

 

“What?” Regulus was confused. How would he~ oh, _oh_. Wait! The prospect of marrying Barty was bad enough, he was _not_ marrying Sirius!

 

“It’s about your brother, dear,” his mother’s mouth was pressed into a thin line. “Look, you know how it is. One way or the other, this curse _must_ be broken, there is no other way.”

 

“Of course, mother,” Regulus nodded. “But how does this concern me?”

 

“Well, to break the curse he needs his soulmate~”

 

“ _And_?”

 

Walburga must've been dead serious about what she was going to say as she did not chide her youngest for interrupting her. “ _And_ ,” she frowned, “we need you to find said soulmate.”

 

“ _What_?” Regulus guffawed. “Mother, with all due respect, a soulmate is person-specific, I wouldn’t have the first clue what Sirius’s soulmate would even _be_ _like_ , let alone who they _are_.”

 

“We know that, silly boy,” his mother rolled her eyes before shoving a rectangular shard of glass into his hand. He thanked every god there was that it didn’t slice him. “Take this. It will glow red when in the presence of the soulmate.”

 

“Why~wha~ how long have you two had this?” Regulus gasped.

 

“Since we went to Cassandra.”

 

“ _Eighteen years_!?” Eighteen years and he’d never even fucking heard of this!? If they had such a contraption, then why had Sirius’s soulmate never been found!?

 

“Yes, now quiet,” his father hissed.

 

“Why haven’t you found her yet then?” Regulus growled.

 

He received a slap from his mother for that. “Watch how you speak to your father.”

 

“Sorry,” he grumbled grudgingly. “But why hasn’t anyone been found?”

 

“We have tried, taken it everywhere within this kingdom~ but we trust nobody with this mirror, making it hard to check foreign soils. It would not be difficult for someone with skill to charm the mirror red and we do not want to have to deal with an issue like that. Only four people knew about the mirror, well, _five_ now,” Orion looked at his son, expectantly.

 

“Let me guess, Sirius and Grandfather knew and I was just never told?”

 

“We didn’t know if you would tell anybody else~ even now, son, you’re quite young.”

 

“Then why trust me with it now?”

 

“Regulus,” his father sighed. “Look~ it’s no secret that I’m getting old. Soon, the kingdom will need a new king, which will be Sirius.”

 

“Father,” Regulus’s eyes welled up. “You’re-you’re not… you’re not _sick_ , are you?”

 

“No, son, of course not,” Orion barked out a laugh. “But as I age, the possibility of illness increases. And besides, there’s you too!”

 

“Yes?”

 

“One day you are to be married, and I highly doubt that you’d have time to look then. We also would rather the Crouches not know about this as they may try to use it to their political advantage.”

 

Well, Barty Jr. wouldn’t, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Barty Sr. did.

 

“A-alright. I’ll do it.”

 

“Of course you will,” Orion smiled. “From what we know, his soulmate is likely to be a Border Guard of Le Strange, or at least have the tattoo on her arm. In the event that this is a red herring, we have drawn an image of the mark on a piece of parchment.”

 

“OK. When do I leave?”

 

“Tonight. I hope,” his mother said, eyes narrowing. “Sooner rather than never, darling. Wouldn’t want to keep your brother waiting. Would we?”

 

“No, mother. Of course, mother.”

 

“Good…” his mother nodded at his father. He gave his assent and she left the room.

 

“Regulus…” he sighed. “I can not stress how important this quest is. Try not to screw it up.”

 

“Yes, father. Of course, father.”

 

“Good. Now leave.”

 

.

 

Regulus stared at the door that opened to his brother’s room and sighed. He ought to go in there and hug him goodbye. It made the most sense. Of course he should.

 

But something held him back. Regulus had never really been good at goodbyes. And he didn’t want Sirius to know that he was doing this in case the boy got false hope. He didn’t want to be the one to disappoint his big brother if this all failed.

 

So he turned and walked away. Nothing but a knapsack on his back and the mirror in his hand.

 

.

 

“Mother, father,” Sirius frowned. “Where’s Regulus? Why isn’t he joining us?”

 

“Ah,” Sirius didn’t miss the way his mother shot a weary glance at his father. “He’s, uh, he’s not feeling all that well, so he’s having dinner in his room tonight.”

 

“Alright,” Sirius frowned, vowing to check the map for his brother once dinner was over.

 

.

 

Unbelievable. No sign of the little shite _anywhere_ in Grimmauld Palace. Not even in the bloody fucking courtyard!

 

Sirius contemplated the odds of Regulus maybe having just snuck out or something (he _was_ a teenage boy, after all), but the next morning when he checked and saw nothing, he grew even _more_ worried.

 

He thought about confronting his parents again, but figured that if they’d already lied to him once, they'd probably lie to him again.

 

He only had one more hope, his grandfather, Arcturus. His grandfather may not show it, but he knew that if he wanted to find somebody, _anybody_ in the family other than himself (and Narcissa, but she was more extended family to be honest), it was his grandfather, who loved Regulus almost as fiercely as his wife had (though he probably only loved Regulus so much _because_ his wife had prior to her death). His grandfather was his only even remotely caring ancestor, the only one who agreed that Regulus shouldn’t be shoved off into marriage with the Crouches. The only one that agreed that Regulus should get to _pick_ whom he wound up with. The only person he could really get on with in his family other than his brother and Andy.

 

.

 

“I myself am not sure,” Arcturus admitted. “Though I do not believe that your brother is sick~ I am sure that potion boy he’s friends with, Severus, would have fixed him up in a jiffy with a Pepper Up potion if that had been the case. I fear that your parents may have sent him to begin being groomed for the Crouches though.”

 

“He’s _sixteen_!” Sirius gasped in horror.

 

“Easily of carrying age in their eyes, I’d assume. Besides, if they _did_ have him married off soon, it’d probably be for the best. From what I hear the Queen of Crouch Land is growing rather ill…”

 

“ _And_?”

 

“Come now, Sirius. Surely even you know that a prince can not be married unless the king himself is wed.”

 

“They-they _wouldn’t_ , they would _never_ ~”

 

“Really? Come now, I know that _Regulus_ is supposed to be the smart one, but surely even you wouldn’t put that past your parents.”

 

“ _Regulus_ would never~”

 

“Never what? Maybe you’ve forgotten, but this is the same Regulus who would do _anything_ , and I _mean **anything**_ to please your parents, whether or not he personally wanted to. Remember? Remember when you thought that he would fight the engagement to his _best- **friend**_? Remember when he **_didn’t_**?”

 

“There’s a _thirty-something_ _year age difference_.”

 

“That won’t impact Crouch’s ability to get your brother pregnant.”

 

“Why? Why would Crouch need more children!? He already has a son! He already _has_ an heir!”

 

“An heir he may have, but he lacks a spare. And besides, there’s no reason that he can’t have more sons, is there? If I were you, what I’d be most concerned about is the fact that as a man ages his partner is more likely to miscarry. I don’t know about you, but I highly doubt that young Regulus could handle that~ not that Crouch would care.”

 

“That’s-that’s _awful_! Grandfather, you can not _possibly_ allow this to unfold!”

 

“What am I to do!?” his grandfather bellowed. “An engagement has been set~ whether your brother likes it or not, he’s going to marry a Crouch. And that sad part is that we _know_ that he doesn’t like it just as surely as we know that he won’t fight it. If your parents have sent him off to Crouch Land to be groomed, then so be it. I would _much_ rather have him marrying Jr. than Sr.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little warning for those of you who decide to read further, there WILL be sex in this story, and I am VERY bad at writing sex scenes. Whenever there is though, I'll put up a little disclaimer at the beginning of the chapter to warn you about it.


	2. Petunia and Vernon

Regulus had had no luck so far. He’d gone to bars, seedy, _seedy_ bars to find _anyone_ who could help him. He wasn’t an idiot, of course. He was in disguise, walking around as a thirty-something year old red-head named Pablo.

 

He was trying to find someone who could help him cross the river-border that separated the Black Kingdom from Le Strange. He was supposed to get across unnoticed so as not to attract the attention of King Royce Lestrange. They didn’t want to risk information about the mirror reaching his ears. Not when Rabastan currently didn’t have a betrothed ( _gods above_ , had he been happy when his parents had put Barty on the table instead of _him_ ).

 

The only alternative would be to _swim_ across, and given the numerous monsters he _knew_ lurked within the river from a few rather… _unfortunate_ trips to the banks as a child.

 

The problem was that to cross legally, he’d need to have a passport. He’d been scouting travellers crossing and had, after a day of moral deliberation, come up with a solution. He was going to steal somebody’s identity, but that was a hard feat to accomplish when everybody you encountered seemed to be travelling in either pairs or groups.

 

Finally. _Finally_ , he spotted a couple. One was a man with dark hair and a bushy black moustache. He was ripped and had mean, blue eyes. He was with a lady with a blonde horse-faced woman with a rather long neck. He smiled at them and chatted with them for a bit, before knocking them out with a spell and transfiguring himself into the woman~ there was _no way_ that he was going to disguise himself as that unpleasant man, even when the woman was not that much better herself. He boarded the boat with a grin on his face. Phase one of his plan complete, phase 2? Reverse engineering the mirror to see if it could show him _where_ the person he was searching for was, whether it could show him what she would be seeing.

 

He got to work. The boat ride would only last him three hours.

 

.

 

Sirius paced up and down his bedroom trying to internalize what Arcturus had told him. Maybe~ maybe if Regulus had gone away to Crouch Land to prepare for his wedding, it wasn’t _that_ bad? Sirius of course had _never_ liked Barty. Barty had, thankfully, been one of the rare few (Sirius only knew of about twelve) who were immune to Sirius’s charm (sadly, however, his father wasn’t~ neither was his mother, but Sirius would rather not think about that instance). But that wasn’t why Sirius didn’t like him~ Bartemius Crouch Jr. was just fucking creepy, and given that he once caught him smoking with Regulus (and he _knew_ for a _fucking_ _fact_ , that his _baby brother_ did **_not_** smoke!). Some may think it odd that in a pair of two he blamed the younger for corrupting the older, but in his defense there wasn’t even a ten month age gap between the two!

 

And besides, Crouch was still a kid. Sixteen might be an acceptable age to get married within the Major Kingdoms, but fifteen? And for a _King_ , not a _consort_? It wasn’t unheard of, but it certainly wasn’t common.

 

Besides, there was also the little fact that Crouch was bi but leaned towards females, whilst Regulus was fully blown-out gay (with maybe a _slight_ attraction to females, but it was pretty fucking rare). Barty and Regulus _might_ be “just friends” but Sirius was 100% positive that after they were married, _after_ they started sleeping together (Sirius shuddered at the thought), having children and all of that would change their dynamic~ for his brother at least. After all, Regulus was pretty fucking soft, Sirius had always pegged him as the type to fall hard for someone, not necessarily because they were good for him… Barty on the other hand… Barty could be dense, and whilst Regulus was busy catching feelings for him, Sirius could easily see Barty not noticing and sticking to some likely pre-arranged agreement between the two (because his brother was weak when it came to their parents, but he wasn’t a complete idiot. There was no way that he would consent to marry his best-friend unless they had worked out some back-door deal) that involved sleeping with whomever they wanted… Reg would be too much of a coward to say anything… Sirius felt tears burn his cheeks. Reg would be miserable~ _bloody fucking miserable_ , and he couldn’t do a _godsdamned thing_ _because he was stuck in this **bloody fucking castle when he SHOULD have been waging war against the Crouches to maintain Regulus’s right to marry whomsoever he motherfucking chose!**_

 

Sirius let out a sigh of agony. Gods, each day that passed he hated his curse more and more… hated himself.

 

.

 

Regulus had taken about an hour to crack the mirror. He could now see what Sirius’s future bride could. There was sky. Whomever it was was laying on her back, clearly.

 

He couldn’t hear anything, unfortunately. Just watch. He looked at the sky in the horizon… yeah… close enough to what he saw… it was definitely closer than his homeland’s skies…

 

.

 

“Mother, Father,” Sirius waltzed into his parents’ chambers, “I need to speak with you.” Odd that the only person in the room was his mother, oh well, he supposed that it was better this way.

 

“Yes, son? What is it?” Walburga asked.

 

“Is it possible to dissolve a marriage contract?”

 

“Hmmm, depends,” Walburga frowned. “But why would you want to know that? You’re not having an arranged wedding.”

 

“I know that~ but I’m assuming that one way or the other I will have children, and just incase I make a mistake…”

 

“Well, it would depend. If either member has committed any acts of indecency~”

 

“Like… sleeping with somebody after the contract is in place?”

 

“No! Of course not, silly boy, _everyone_ does that~ more along the lines of getting somebody pregnant, or partaking in family-shaming rituals~ there is also an immediate nullification if the two kingdoms go to war with one-another or participate in a war but fight opposing sides, but that seems rather obvious. Don’t worry, My Sweet, I’m sure that that won’t be an issue for you.”

 

“Oh. OK. Thank you, mother. Oh, and just out of curiosity, where has Regulus gone?”

 

His mother looked uncomfortable at the question. Eventually, she ‘gave up’ and sighed. “Look, I did not wish to tell you, as I know that tales of activities beyond these castle walls given your, ah, predicament. Your brother has gone off to spend the summer with the Notts.”

 

Even though Sirius was 100% sure that she was lying, he felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. It was his mother’s prerogative to say that he was spending time with Barty, but she hadn’t. Had she said ‘Oh, he’s over there with the Crouches’ he may have believed her, but she hadn’t. She’d purposely told him a lie, a lie that implicated that what he had believed had become of his poor, dear brother had not happened at all. Regulus was _not_ getting groomed to be the next bride to the Crouches… still, he felt as though he ought to ask…

 

“Mother?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I-I heard that Queen Crouch is unwell.”

 

“That she is.”

 

“Mother… if she were to die, would Regulus have to marry King Crouch instead of Barty?” Sirius did his best to keep the fear out of his voice. Good future kings were never scared of anything. Least of all their baby brothers who would be _miserable_ if married to King Crouch… or _any_ member of the Crouch family, if he were being honest with himself.

 

“Gods no!” Walburga exclaimed. “Sirius, dear, we specifically arranged Regulus’s marriage contract to prevent something like that from happening. Regulus isn’t bound to Castle Crouch or something, he’s bound to Barty, and _only_ Barty.”

 

“OK,” Sirius nodded. “Thank you mother.”

 

He exited his mother’s room and as soon as he was within the safety of his own, he slid to the ground and began to cry.

 

Why?

 

Because he hadn’t been able to tell whether or not his mother had been lying about Regulus’s wedding contract.


	3. He's YOUR brother

“James!” Sirius greeted.

 

“Hey!” his best-friend-in-the-entire-world-who-was-not-Remus smiled back.

 

“So~ what news do you bring of the outside world?”

 

“Oh, it’s _horribly_ boring!” James groaned. “There hasn’t been an attack in _ages_!”

 

“Really? Not even a skirmish?” Sirius pouted.

 

“Nada~ you know, I still think that your parents should consider using you to be a weapon.”

 

“A weapon?” Sirius smirked. “How so?”

 

“We could use your charm to turn the enemy lovestruck, and then Moony and I could go and kill ‘em all.”

 

“What about Peter?”

 

“Meh, he’s alright with a sword, but not that good.”

 

“But he’s decent at magic!”

 

“Relatively,” James rolled his eyes. “He has gotten better at explosion charms, though.”

 

“So, when do you think that it’ll be safe for me to sneak out again?”

 

“After what happened last time? Sirius, really?”

 

“It wasn’t _that_ bad!”

 

“Not ‘that bad’, huh? May I remind you that the only townspeople immune to your charm, aka me, Remy and Peter thought that you were such a beautiful little dog that they wanted to skin you alive and mount the pelt?”

 

“People here are really fucked up, aren’t they?”

 

“Well, ever since all the muggles moved away…”

 

“Can’t really blame them though, policies weren’t that friendly. I’m honestly surprised that there wasn’t an outright massacre of them.”

 

“Come on now, the royal family can be right prats, but you guys aren’t _murderers_.”

 

“You know, I’m pretty sure that calling us ‘prats’ qualifies as treason.”

 

“True, but as I said, ‘you guys aren’t murderers’.”

 

“Ahh, clever, you think that that might save you.”

 

“No, actually, but I was hoping that my friendship with you might.”

 

Sirius laughed. Gods above he loved James!

 

“So, where’s your brother, I haven’t seen him around in a while?” James frowned.

 

“I have no idea!” Sirius groaned. “I haven’t seen him either, all that I know is that he isn’t in the castle right now. My grandfather thinks that my grandparents secretly sent him off to Crouch Land to be groomed for his marriage~ which, _ew_ , by the way~ but my mother says that he’s spending the summer with the Notts. Neither scenario makes sense to me, though, because surely he would have at least _told_ me where he was going?”

 

“Maybe he ran away somewhere,” James shrugged. “You said it yourself, there’s _no way_ that Regulus actually wants to marry Crouch. Maybe he's found himself a pretty broad or a strapping bloke and run off with him.”

 

“No, Reg would never do that to my parents,” Sirius frowned, _though I **so** wish he would_. “I think that we ought to get Moony and Wormtail out here on this.”

 

“Won’t Arcturus be needing Remus?”

 

“If it’s to save his youngest grandson, then I doubt that he’d mind.”

 

.

 

Le Strange was a beautiful place, Regulus had to admit. The last time that he’d been to the land was when his cousin, Bellatrix, was getting married two years ago.

 

He pulled his cloak up a little more over his head. The disadvantage with _not_ being a metapmorphmagus was that not only was it hard to remember to hold your disguise over a long period of time, but it was also very tiring as well, so he’d decided to simply wear a cloak to conceal his identity (because there was _no way_ that he was ruining his beautiful, beautiful hair).

 

His first stop was, of course, the Border House, because that was where the Border Guard headquarters were located, and because he was travelling incognito, he had to take the back-paths to get there, so the first thing that he did was purchase a map of the entire kingdom.

 

He walked into what appeared to be a deserted forest, and pulled out a dagger from his backpack. He slit his left wrist, hissing in pain as the cut formed, and dripped his blood to cover the entirety of the map, before sealing the wound with a quickly muttered “ _Episkey_ ,” followed by a “ _Tergeo_.”

 

“ _Mappa_ ,” he unsheathed his wand. “ _Periculum Ostendit_.”

 

The blood (which, frankly, had begun to smell a bit) glowed blue before blood began to pour off of the map in hordes, and onto the soil, leaving only a few neon-blue smudges on it in place of all of the blood, as well as an ‘X’ where he was on the map to match the giant ‘X’ formed by his blood on the soil. Great, well now at least he knew where the more dangerous areas were, as well as where he was.

 

He glanced at the map again to see where he had to go. The border guard house would have to be somewhere along the border… and was perhaps somewhere along the black line drawn (if Regulus’s estimate was correct) a half kilometer inland around the kingdom. Great, at least he had somewhere to start.

 

Meanwhile, he figured that he ought to work on his lie. Hmmm… how about, he was on his _ad aetatem_ quest, and he was supposed to deliver the true love of… hmmm~ ooh! A noble person to them, and the mirror would tell him who it was, and all that he knew was that the person had a heart-shaped tattoo on them.

 

Perfect! It was close enough to the truth to be easily remembered, and _just_ enticing enough that he doubted that the Head Guard would refuse to recall all of his troops. Besides, if he were on his _ad aetatem_ quest, Ancient Law would dictate that he must do it without the help of a monarch, which would be his excuse for not seeking help from Bellatrix or Rod.

 

.

 

“You want us to _what_!?” Remus frowned.

 

“Track him. You and Peter, that is. We’ll make excuses for you here in the castle, say that your grandparents are sick or something.”

 

“My grandparents are _dead_ ~”

 

“All the better then,” Sirius said, firmly. “Look… I know that none of you are overly fond of my brother, but I’m seriously worried about him.”

 

“Hey, we get that mate,” Peter soothed. “But if your parents aren’t overly concerned with his whereabouts, do you really think that you should be? I mean, he’s obviously safe or at least in a place that they know of.”

 

“Trust my parents with my brother, Pete? Maybe you’ve forgotten, but the last time I did that he wound up engaged to his best-friend.”

 

“Maybe that was for the best, there were a lot of worse people that he could’ve ended up engaged to,” James pointed out, “Like what about Rabastan Lestrange, or Antonin Dolohov~ _senior_ , or what about if he’d gotten engaged into a kingdom like Avalon that practices polygamy, huh? What if he'd gotten engaged _out side of this sphere_ , into somewhere like Brownland, you’d likely never see him again.”

 

“OK, OK, I get it, there were worse options, but there were also better ones. The Selwyns for one, they may be outside of the sphere, but they're still close enough that he could visit _and_ even if he didn’t, I’d rather him be happy in his _home_ than able to visit; The Abbots~”

 

“Your parents loathe the Abbots.”

 

“True, but there’s still the Flints, the Burkes, the Traverses~ hell, he could have even married off the continent- to one of those Westerners, like the Graves or the Goldsteins! And even then, he wouldn’t have _necessarily_ needed to marry royalty to form an alliance, he could have married a noble person! What about the Princes or the Dumbledores~”

 

“Do you _really_ think that your parents would wed your brother off to a Dumbledore?” Remus frowned. “Dumbledores don’t believe in wizard supremacy and think that wizards ought to be helping muggles, like they're some sort of charity case.”

 

“But shouldn’t we be?”

 

“I suppose… we also shouldn’t be looking down our noses at muggleborns and so called ‘blood traitors’ though, my family’s had a bad history of that~”

 

“Which you'll change,” James soothed.

 

“Yeah, if this bloody curse ever ends.”

 

“ _When_ it ends, Sirius. You know that curses rarely ever live on past their caster, and Bathilda is _ancient_ , like, ninety-something! How much longer could she possibly live?”

 

“Jamie, I’m pretty sure that if that were the case my parents would have hunted her down… this curse is _ancient_. It’ll only end with true love’s kiss.”

 

.

 

Just to be clear~ going by the routes without traps did not necessarily mean that Regulus was safe. He’d considered buying a broom, but figured that that was the least discrete way wizardly possible to travel. He had tried placing a compass spell on the mirror so that it would direct him to Sirius’s soulmate, but that had failed (miserably) so he was back to using that spell to look at the other side of the mirror. He saw a house… a guard house, by the looks of it, and~ yes! _Yes_! He saw a face!! He saw a male with dark hair, dark skin, and green eyes that looked oddly similar to that of an Avery’s. Oh, of course! Mathias Avery, the heir to Ave Eerie’s younger brother~ was supposed to be training here to take over The Guard in Ave Eerie!

 

That was perfect! Mathias didn’t technically count as a monarch, so he would be able to use him to help in his not-quite _ad aetatem_. But honestly though, this _had_ to count as an _ad aetatem_ quest! Then again, he wasn’t all that surprised that his parents hadn’t declared it as one. In addition to the usual _public announcement_ of the task (which was impossible given the dire need for secrecy in this), an _ad aetatem_ was standard protocol for a future _King_ or _heir_ , of which Regulus was not. He would never be a King or an heir, his role was strictly that of a consort. Still, Avery didn’t know that.

 

.

 

“OK,” Sirius handed Remus the compass said boy was supposed to use to find Regulus. “Just follow the needle on there, I enchanted it with some of his DNA.”

 

“Where’d you get that?” Remus grimaced.

 

“I’d rather not mention. Anyways, all set?”

 

“Yeah, Pete’s coming up with the supplies.”

 

“OK. Thank you, and hey… you-you take good care of him, OK?”

 

“Sirius,” Remus sighed. “Regulus is a competent wizard with more spells in arsenal than either you or I could hope to learn in a lifetime, but of course. I’d protect him with my life if the need arose.”

 

“Uhhh, Moony,” Sirius frowned. “I was kind of talking about Peter.”

 

“Oh,” Remus blushed. “Sorry.”

 

“Nah,” Sirius laughed, “I think that it’s kind of sweet that you’d look after Reg.”

 

“Of course,” Remus smiled softly. _He’s **your** brother, of course I’d look after him_.

 

.

 

That spell _really_ hadn’t guaranteed Regulus’s safety. He was walking along the trail, the sun setting, when a stranger bumped into him.

 

“Hey, watch where you’re~ _hey_!” the stranger knocked him to the ground.

 

 _“Rictusempra_!” he cast, wandlessly.

 

The stranger started laughing and clutching his sides. Regulus groped for his wand, but before he could get a spell out, the man had ended the spell on himself and had cast an _expelliarmus_ at Regulus, leaving him defenseless except for the wandless spells in his arsenal.

 

 _“Expelli~_ urf!” Regulus grunted, as he was knocked backwards into a tree by a silent spell, before he was roughly kicked in the side. He groaned, clutching his side, his vision going blurry. He saw the man grab his backpack and take off before panicking. No, no, _no_! The mirror was in there! He feebly tried to cast a spell in the direction of his attacker, but to no avail. The spell missed, the man got away, his wand (he would later discover) had also been taken, he had no mirror, and he was slowly fading out of consciousness.


	4. And single too

When Regulus woke up, he briefly looked around for his backpack while clutching his throbbing face, just in case the burglar had realized that there was nothing of value in there and thrown it away, but he had had no such luck.

 

 _‘Okay_ ,’ he thought to himself. ‘ _Don’t panic, you still have that picture with you. Remember, the one with the heart that kind of looks like one a Boarder Guard of Le Strange might have, but not quite. We can still find her… and if we don’t then we’ll just live in exile for the rest of our lives, away from mother and father. Really, there’s no way to lose in this situation.’_

 

Except yes, of course there was because he’d never get to see his brother again, and his brother would be cursed and _Gods above, Sirius_ he was _so so sorry_!

 

He didn’t have his wand. If he did, then he knew more than a few spells that he could use to piece together where his attacker had went. He’d need to go into a village to find a wand, but his map was gone too. He could be walking into danger for all that he knew, and he’d be wandless when he encountered it. He’d need to rely on wandless magic to get himself out of this mess.

 

.

 

“This needle is bloody taking us out of the kingdom,” Remus grumbled. “Should we inform Sirius first?”

 

“No, I think that he knew that Regulus had jumped kingdoms. Hey… what if this is his Coming of Age Quest?”

 

“His _Ad Aetatem_ quest? I doubt it, the announcement would’ve been more public.”

 

“But it would explain why his parents are concerned, and why they're being so evasive. Those things can be dangerous, especially if an enemy to your kingdom finds out about them.”

 

“But they would’ve told Sirius. Who would he have told? Besides, those quests are generally reserved for future kings, and Regulus is a future _consort_. His husband’ll be going on his _Ad Aetatem_ quest soon enough, but not Regulus. Not _anything_ that could damage him to the point that he may not be able to conceive.”

 

“That seems unfair.”

 

“They're royalty, Pete. Everything about their lives is unfair… just look at Sirius. He didn’t do anything wrong, his _parents_ launched that war… but there he is, suffering for it.”

 

.

 

Regulus had been wandering around the woods for three days now. He was dog-tired and had seen no settlements at all on his journey. The barracks hadn’t seemed _that_ far away!

 

He’d had nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nowhere to sleep. His transfiguration when wandless was rather… sub par, and even then he didn’t really know which trees would be safe to turn into a glass or something to drink from.

 

He didn’t have any more money on him either. The little that he’d had had been used to acquire the map.

 

Le Strange was experiencing summer, so it was pretty fucking hot, meaning that when he fainted the next day it really should have been more expected.

 

.

 

“Sirius, dear. Don’t forget about the Royal Summit on Friday.”

 

“Oh, joy. Another reason to hole myself away.”

 

“Don’t take that tone with me, young man,” Walburga glowered at her eldest son. “Besides, most of the monarchs will be bringing their children~”

 

“Who always got along a _lot better_ with Regulus than with me, mother. May I ask when he will be returning?” If _he will be returning?_

 

“Uhh,” Walburga seemed to be caught up in a bit of a snag. “I’m not really all that sure…”

 

“But you said that he had gone to visit the Notts, who will be attending the ceremony,” Sirius mentally grinned. _Yes, yes, **yes**! One step closer to the truth!_

 

“True, but Olliver mentioned that Regulus had recently acquired a stomach bug, and those can be rather nasty to travel with.”

 

Fuck. “Ah, I understand. But surely he could bear through the journey just this once, I mean from the sounds of it he’ll be leaving the castle permanently quite soon~ Bartemius turns seventeen next summer, that’s the legal marrying age. From what I understand, Castle Crouch is rather eager to get through with the wed~”

 

“OK, OK, I get it,” Walburga snapped. Damn Sirius and his nosiness. “Though I personally don’t understand what you hope to gain from this? You do realize that Regulus will not only be too ill to be of decent company to you, but will be losing out on what may just be his last chance to spend time with his friends. You surely aren’t naïve enough to think that he will be able to do that once married? Maybe you’ve forgotten, Sirius, but he’s not exactly the stud in that relationship~ _he doesn’t call the shots!_ ” Walburga took a deep breath. “Look… you’ve had him sixteen years, now it’s time to let go.”

.

 

“Urnghh,” Regulus groaned as his eyes opened and a plain, white image came into view.

 

“You’re awake,” he heard a voice, a beautiful, _beautiful_ voice croon.

 

“Gurrghhmm,” Wow, great way to make a good impression on someone… come off like a troll.

 

“Ahh,” he heard another, more familiar voice smirk.

 

“Nggh, fuck you, Mat,” he groaned, shutting his eyes as the older boy chuckled.

 

“Good to see you too, Reg. You need something… water?”

 

“Nope,” he opened his eyes again, sat up quickly, felt a wave of dizziness rush over him and was immediately stopped by a strong pair of hands.

 

“Hey, hey, easy there, you just woke up,” again, that sweet, soft, angelic voice. “Just take it easy,” he was slowly lowered back onto the bed.

 

“No, really. It’s OK,” Regulus insisted, struggling against him. “I’m fine, really.”

 

“Let him up, Rosier,” Mathias grinned down at his friend. “I know Reg, he’s no damsel in distress.”

 

“Alright,” the boy holding him hesitated before allowing him to properly sit up.

 

“Where am I?” Regulus questioned.

 

“You're in the North Wing of the Border House, though what you’re doing in Le Strange is personally beyond me.”

 

“I’m here on a quest.”

 

Mathias frowned. “Aren’t _Ad Aetatem_ s usually for princes before crowning?”

 

“Yes, but my parents wanted me to go on one just in case. Besides, it proves that the Crouches new bride is strong and resilient, something that’ll definitely help me win over the people there.”

 

“Bride?” the pleasant voice, aka Rosier, sounded surprised.

 

“Ah, let me introduce you two. Prince Regulus Arcturus Black of the Black Kingdom~ soon to be Queen of Crouch Land~, meet soon to be Sir Evan Rosier, current Head of the Centre Guard~ basically of the section that we’re in~, son and heir of the Lord of the North of Le Strange.”

 

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Regulus,” Evan bowed respectfully.

 

“Please,” Regulus glared at a smirking Mathias who _knew_ that he **_hated_** being referred to as ‘Prince’ anything by close age mates. “The pleasure is all mine, Sir Evan. Also, just Regulus is fine.”

 

“And I’d prefer just Evan,” the boy smiled kindly at him.

 

“Ooh! Get a room you two!” Mathias winked, earning a heated glare from both males. “Anyways, Reg, what’cha here for?”

 

“Well, if you must know, I’m on a quest to find someone. I had a mirror... but it was stolen from me~”

 

“Stolen!” the handsome blonde boy cried in outrage. “Did you by any chance happen to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator?”

 

“No, unfortunately not~”

 

“Do not worry, I am certain that we shall find whomever did it. could you please describe your mirror?”

 

“Well, it was in a brown satchel made of leather. Not incredibly distinct, but whomever has it would also have my wand, assuming that they haven’t pawned it off…”

 

“Don’t worry. We’ll send out scouts to search every village for it. When you're feeling better we’ll take you to our wandmaker, Gregorovich, he can track wands based on a person’s magical touch.”

 

“ _Really_?” Regulus gasped. That was _excellent_!

 

“Really. But just rest for today, okay. You look pretty beat up, was that also the robber?” Evan growled the last bit out.

 

“Yeah, I guess. He kind of knocked me into a tree~”

 

“That bastard will pay for it, don’t you worry Reg, er, ulus.”

 

“Thanks,” Regulus blushed.

 

.

 

“Wait, so he’s not in the kingdom?” Sirius frowned at Remus’s face in the fire.

 

“Yeah. The arrow’s pointing towards Le Strange though, not Nott Land.”

 

Sirius frowned. What the hell was Regulus doing on Psycho Island. Le Strange was the land that Snivellus’s mother, Eileen, had been born in, had fled after getting pregnant with an illegitimate child. Her bastard (both literally and adjectively) son, Snivelly Prince-Snape.

 

Lol, there was nothing even remotely ‘prince-like’ about Snivelly, but his family (maternal) were the Lords of West Le Strange. The one good thing about Regulus’s impending marriage was that he’d be separated from that soul-sucking freak for good.

 

“Keep looking.”

 

“Should we ask the King for~”

 

“ _No!_ ” Sirius gasped, looking at the shocked expression on Remus’s face. “Er, I mean… I mean, no. No, you can’t trust them. They aren’t exactly well-wishers to our land.”

 

.

 

“He’s rather handsome, isn’t he?” Evan watched Regulus spar with Jonas Seymour.

 

“He is, and single too,” Mathias smirked.

 

“I wasn’t kidding.”

 

“Neither was I.”

 

“I feel bad for wanting him…” Evan sighed, watching as Regulus disarmed the man twice his size.

 

“Don’t. He’s not married yet, for all intents and purposes he’s single. _Trust me_ , my brother’s in a marital contract with Eleanor Graves. They’re both sleeping around.”

 

“That’s wrong!”

 

“It really, _really_ isn’t. Look, these marriages are all a formality. Besides, I know Crouch, he and Reg are just platonic, it’s the epitome of a marriage of convenience. Reg’ll bear him some heirs, strengthening the bond between the two not-so-friendly kingdoms, and boom. It’s over. They’ll never sleep together again, they’ll belong exclusively to their paramours.”

 

“That’s _awful_!”

 

“Meh, I guess it’s kind of worse on Reg. Everyone’s expecting Barty to bear a few bastards~ Kings do that all the time~ but your cousin’s fiancé~”

 

“So you knew. You _bloody knew_ , and yet you humored me!”

 

“Knew what? That Crouch’s mother was originally Ophelia Rosier~ yeah, about half the bloody kingdom knows that.”

 

“So you understand why I can’t do this?”

 

“No. No I really don’t. Look~ you just want to sleep with him, right?”

 

“Well… yeah?”

 

“Unless you're planning on catching feelings, it shouldn’t even really matter in the first place. I mean, you’re Barty’s cousin, you of all people should know that he’s not exactly keeping himself for marriage.”

 

Evan bit his lip, still guilty. “This is my _cousin_ we’re talking about.”

 

“Your cousin who is **_just friends_** with his future fiancé! Come on, nobody wants to lose their virginity to someone they have no sexual interest in.”

 

“And what makes you think that he feels sexually inclined towards me?”

 

“Uhh…” Mathias rolled his eyes as though it were obvious. “Maybe because of how flustered he gets whenever he’s around you??”

 

“Still…”

 

“Still nothing, Ev. Look, we’re throwing a party tonight~ just a small get together of all the generals of this station~ to welcome Regulus. There's going to be booze, just go for it.”

 

Regulus was sweating.

 

“There’s your chance right now,” Mathias smirked to himself. “Oh hey, Reg! Evan bets you can’t take him!”

 

“Bring it on, Rosier,” the raven-haired boy grinned as the blonde glared at his friend.

 

.

 

“OK… so we’re going through a forest, then,” Remus groaned. “Great, just… just bloody great.”

 

“Don’t worry, Moony. The full moon’s not for another three nights.”

 

“Urgh, we don’t know how far we’re going to be travelling though.”

 

“Well, then I suppose that we ought to get as far into the forest as we possibly can.”

 

 


	5. A side effect of growing up together

Fighting Regulus was divine. Somehow, someway, between all the flirting and carefully placed shots, Regulus had wound up atop Evan, pinning him to the ground, their hips connected. And yes, Evan understood exactly how sexual this looked.

 

“ _Dead_ ,” Regulus whispered lowly.

 

“Not quite,” Regulus tried to stop Evan flipping them to no avail by wrapping his legs around his and twisting in the opposite direction. And yes, when on his back, Regulus understood how sexual the position they were in would appear to an outsider, and was even more painfully aware that his cock was fighting against his enchanted underwear (enchanted to guarantee that situations like _this_ would not be discovered), begging to get a taste of Evan.

 

.

 

“OK, the full moon’s tomorrow night… I think that we ought to enchant a place for you to spend the night. Do you have any of that Wolfsbane potion?”

 

“Of course, I never leave the castle without it,” Remus glanced around. “There doesn’t seem to be any good places to make a shelter. We should start by looking for a cave.”

 

“That might take us off course.”

 

“Unless we want a werewolf running around loose tomorrow night, that’s just a sacrifice that we’ll have to make.”

 

.

 

“She’s being evasive about his whereabouts,” Sirius grumbled. “And Moony and Wormtail say he’s nowhere near Nott Land…”

 

“But wasn’t that to be expected?”

 

“I don’t like it, Jamie. Not one bit,” he sighed. “Anyways, how're things between you and Evans?”

 

“They’re great!” James grinned, lovesick.

 

“Really? So why do I doubt that?”

 

“Oh come off of it, Pads, I like her and she likes me.”

 

“Mate, I think the problem is that you keep coming off too strong. Remember that time that you enchanted all the teaspoons in the kitchen to sing ‘Can’t help falling in love with you’ to her?”

 

“She loved it!”

“She ran away screaming about an intruder, and then Kreacher kneed you in the balls for disturbing his cooking schedule.”

 

“Ruddy old House Elf.”

 

“Seriously, mate. Just… just _try_ and be a little more discrete?”

 

.

 

“Mmm, you too looked pretty close out there,” Mathias smirked at Evan.

 

“Oh shut it, Avery,” Evan grumbled. “You _know_ I can’t. And also, I’m sentencing you to twelve weeks of dish duty for that little stunt.”

 

Avery shrugged, walking away, but Evan could’ve sworn he’d heard the younger boy call back ‘it was worth it.’

 

.

 

“What do you think I should wear?” Sirius hummed, showing James two identical tunics in two different colors. “Red or blue?”

 

“I thought you didn’t care about this? And red, its earthy tones suit you.”

 

“I don’t, not really. But you _know_ how I love to dress up.”

 

James smiled fondly at his best-friend. “Of course I do. Ooh! You should _so_ wear those black ankle boots with them! You know, the ones I like.”

 

“The leather ones?”

 

James snorted. “ _No_ , the _cotton ones_ ~ of course the bloody leather ones. And I know your hair is kind of short, but you should consider growing it out a bit and tying it back. It would show off that lovely face of yours.”

 

“Hmm,” Sirius looked at himself in the mirror, contemplating James’s advice. “Well, that means I’m going with the gold sword then.”

 

“Which one? The longsword or the cutlass?”

 

“I was _actually_ thinking the Estoc.”

 

“You're bringing _Kiara_ out?” James gasped. “Nice touch!”

 

“Yeah. I was also thinking about a bit of kohl but that may be a bit much…”

 

“No way! Kohl for the win! I could nab some perfume for you if you want?”

 

“Nah, I’ve got a bottle of Dark Sunlight here.”

 

“OMM! You have the new Delacour scent!?”

 

“Uhuh, all the way from Beauxbatons!”

 

“That’s _sweet_!”

 

“ ** _Actually_** it’s classy. I got the musk version, of course.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Sirius laughed. “I miss this… just having you around, I mean~ the others are great, of course, and I love Rem and Pete like bro~”

 

“Sirius,” James cut him off, smiling. “Sirius, it’s OK to want to spend one on one time with someone. It doesn’t mean that you don’t value the other people in your life or anything, just that you want to share a moment with a specific person. If I sent Mayhar out to do something instead of Egggrunch, it doesn’t mean that I like Mayhar more…”

 

“But that’s the thing, I sometimes feel like I _do_ like you more~ not that I like them less.”

 

“And I like you more~ again, I love them too. I guess it’s just a side effect of growing up together.”

 

“I guess.”

 

.

 

Somehow, Evan had ended up just drunk enough that morals no longer applied to him, but not drunk enough that his state of inebriation would be able to get in the way of his plans. No wonder they called Firewhisky ‘liquid courage.’

 

He’d found Regulus talking to some guard~ Horness Buoy, if he wasn’t mistaken~ and said guard was getting a _little_ too close for comfort.

 

“Hey, Regulus,” he smiled predatorily.

 

“Evan,” Regulus should _not_ have smiled. Great, now Evan’s drink addled mind thought that he wanted it.

 

Evan leant forwards and smashed their faces together, ready to turn and leave at the first sign of discomfort but no. Bloody, beautiful, _so_ out of his mostly straight cousin’s league Regulus was kissing back, and had moved a hand behind Evan’s scalp to drag him more into the kiss.

 

The moment they separated, Evan led Regulus hungrily to his bedroom (he was the commander of this unit, of _course_ he had his own room) and proceeded to toss said boy onto his bed.

 

**(This is where it gets smutty. I apologize in advance for my godawful writing.)**

 

Evan leant down to capture Regulus’s mouth in a kiss, moving his hands down his sides, only to find that he couldn’t really get what he wanted with all of the pesky layers Regulus was wearing. He contemplated using _Evanesco_ , but then Regulus would have no clothes to wear, so he settled for getting rid of the layers between them manually.

 

He ripped off the tunic that the younger boy had been wearing so fast that Regulus had barely had time to protest as the force of it drug his arms up over his head.

 

 _Mmm_ , Evan hummed to himself, running his hands up and down Regulus’s sides~ his _bare_ sides~ softly, eliciting a soft gasp from the boy, _this is **much** better_.

 

Regulus moved his hands to take Evan’s shirt off, but Evan grabbed them and pinned them over Regulus’s head, using his weight to stop the boy struggling, and leaning down to kiss his mouth _hard_. Evan leaned back, letting go of Regulus’s hands, and grasping at his own shirt, smirking a little at the look on Regulus’s face when he saw him topless.

 

“You like?” he grinned.

 

“Fuck yeah!” Evan looked was a frigging Fallen Angel, beautiful (as _hell_ ) on the outside, devious on the inside. _His_ Fallen Angel, mmm…

 

Regulus leaned upwards to capture Evan in yet another kiss, wrapping his still-clothed legs around him to draw him back down to him, running his hands over Evan’s slightly broader chest and tweaking with his nipples just a bit, reveling in the sounds the blonde made as he brought his hands down under his but to Evan’s crotch to untie the knot there and lower the pants, smirking in victory against Evan’s mouth as his hand found Evan’s erection, running up and down it a bit in a bid to make it harder.

 

He pulled back ever so slightly. “Is that a wand in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?” he grinned.

 

“Pretty sure that doesn’t work when we’re in the _middle of sex_ , Reg.”

 

For some reason, Evan calling him by a widely accepted nickname sent tremors down his spine.

 

Evan stood up and took his pants off the rest of the way whilst Regulus undid his knot, about to stand up.

 

“No, let me,” before Regulus could protest, Evan had his pants off. The blonde then began reaching for Regulus’s breeches, pulling them off to reveal his cock. Regulus felt nervous as Evan paused for a moment. What was wrong? Did Evan suddenly not want him? His fears were assuaged when Evan got back on top of him, straddling his hips, and leaning down to plant kisses along his neck.

 

“Mmm, you’re a sight for sore eyes clothed,” Evan said, kissing lower and lower, his hands playing with Regulus’s nipples (which were _especially_ sensitive for him) causing him to whine and keen as he bucked his naked hips against Evan’s still clothed ones. “But _naked_? You’re just downright delicious,” he bit down slightly on Regulus’s abdomen, leaving shallow teeth marks in Regulus’s skin. “Can’t wait to _devour_ you.”

 

And there he was, at the crotch. Regulus moaned loudly, his hands finding Evan’s hair, as Evan licked up his length before taking him down to the root. Regulus hated how high his voice got as Evan ran his tongue in a small circle around his already engulfed cock, bringing his hands down to play with his balls, squeezing them and rubbing the excess saliva from his mouth over them.

 

“Nggh! Please, _please_! Stop, I’m about to cum!” Regulus gasped, his breathing growing harder. He tried to pull Evan up, but the blonde just batted his hands away and sucked harder.

 

Regulus let out a sharp cry and came down Evan’s throat, Evan sucking some of it up, before dragging his tongue up Regulus chest as the boy continued to spasm a little. “Mmmn, you taste so good,” he grinned, bringing his mouth back down to lick a little more up before taking it to Regulus’s mouth and using his tongue to feed it to him. “Told you you were delicious,” he grinned against Regulus’s teeth.

 

Regulus’s breathing began to slow down, and he was just about to reciprocate when Evan’s mouth went down to his chest and began tonguing his nipples, before wrapping his teeth around his left one and suckling it as hard as a newborn babe.

 

“ _Ah_ ,” Regulus gasped, as Evan’s hand went lower to continue playing with his cock. His _way_ oversensitive cock.

 

“So beautiful.”

 

“Nmmn,” he bit out a sharp gasp at the hard yank that Evan delivered to his scrotum, before flipping them over.

 

“My turn,” he whispered lowly into Evan’s ear, reveling in the man’s shiver.

 

He descended upon Evan’s cock, taking his balls in his mouth, making eye-contact with him and moaning as he sucked on them, causing the older boy to arch his hips upwards. He moved up, licking a stripe over Evan’s cock before taking the head in his mouth and humming around it. Gasping, Evan slipped free from his hold, spinning them around until he was back on top. He brought a finger down to Regulus’s arse and murmured a spell that made him wet.

 

He pushed a finger in, which felt… different, though not entirely painful. Regulus himself had only played with around that area a handful of times~ one didn’t really have much privacy when they were in the castle. Certainly not enough to masturbate in.

 

Then another was added, and Evan began to scissor him open. It burned a bit, though not much (Regulus was pretty sure that that was because of the spell) and finally, a third finger was added. After about a minute, Evan pulled back, placing his mouth over Regulus’s in a deep and passionate kiss as he lined himself with the younger man’s loose, slickened hole and pressed in, enjoying the way that Regulus’s body seemed to tighten up, causing him to lean further into Evan as he bottomed out.

 

“Mmn, so tight,” he placed a gentle, almost loving, kiss on the tip of Regulus’s nose, giving him a moment to settle before drawing back slowly and slamming back into Regulus, repeating the motion until he was pounding into Regulus at an almost brutal pace, languishing in the sweet noises the raven-haired male made.

 

“Nghh, _ah_!” bingo, Evan watched as Regulus’s face gained a look of pure bliss. He'd found his prostrate. He angled his hips, aiming them so that they would be hitting the little bundle of nerves with each thrust. His hands were beginning to make dents on Regulus’s skin, he swooped down to capture Regulus’s mouth for what must've been the millionth time that night (he was too wasted to count) tongues battling for dominance.

 

Regulus reached down to stroke his dick, but had his hands pinned over his head by Evan, who growled in his right ear before biting down on his earlobe and sucking it.

 

“Mn, Ev,” Evan didn’t think that it was possible to grow even harder while you were in the middle of fucking them. “Ev, _please_!”

 

“Please what?” he hit in deep, stopping his thrusts, and instead grinding into the man, making a circle over the area he assumed was Regulus’s prostrate.

 

“Please~ _ah_ ~ I-I think that I’m about to come?”

 

“What do you want me to do about it?” he drew his hips back, punctuating each word with a hard thrust.

 

“Nga _-ah Aagh!_ ” Regulus whimpered as he picked up his speed. “L- _let me_ , **_please_**?”

 

“The way I see it, a horny little slut,” he slammed in **_hard_** , “should be able to cum on a dick~ _nggh_ ~ look at you, you were _made_ to take it up the arse. You like it, don’t you? Like being degraded, huh?” he slammed in harder, “Saw that guy you were with. Filthy little slut like you, probably could’ve taken both of us in the same hole,” Regulus’s breathing sped up, “Probably would’ve done it happily, taken another cock in the mouth, huh? Then let the rest of the barracks come in for sloppy seconds. You’d love that, wouldn’t you you little whore?” Evan was close, his erratic thrusting was living proof of that. “Cum for me, you little _slut_.”

 

Regulus let out a high-pitched noise and a soft ‘ _Evan_!’ before spraying his and Evan’s stomachs with a thin layer of semen as he came for the second time that night, clenching down on Evan who let out a lowly moaned, ‘Reg!’ before cumming deep inside of him and collapsing half on top of him and half on the bed.

 

“That was…” Regulus sighed. “Wow,” he pointed his fingers to his arse. _“Evanesco_ , gods above that was…”

 

“Nice,” suddenly Evan felt guilty. “Great, wonderful,” he needed to know, he _needed_ _to know_. “Regulus, wow! You were… _wow_ , you _must've_ done that before.”

 

“Sucked dick? Yes, taken one in my arse? No.”

 

“But you were so confident.”

 

“I knew it was with the right person.” Yay, another reason for him to feel guilty. “I think I might… never mind.”

 

“You think that you might what?”

 

“Never. Mind,” Regulus said, suddenly serious. “Look, let’s just rest, okay?”

 

“OK,” Evan placed a hand around Regulus, turning on his side and curling up into the boy. Regulus took the hint and turned on his side as well, allowing Evan to spoon him.

 

“Hey…” Evan was suddenly very aware of the one thing that might come to bite them in the arse over this. “You don’t… you don’t happen to be on birth control… do you?”

 

“Of course. And don’t worry, I took the silver tea leaves from Mathias this morning. _And_ I just vanished your semen anyways so that it doesn’t have enough time to stick around and find something it likes,” Regulus smirked.

 

“Great,” he was _so_ going to kill Mathias. The smug fucking bastard… then again, he probably should’ve been thanking him. A child was not something he could take care of at the moment, and _definitely_ not something that either he or Regulus could create together. Ever.


	6. Flipendo

Regulus groaned, stretching awake. Huh… he wondered how he had gotten into~ he felt a body shift behind him and suddenly the events of the previous night came back to him. Holy shit, did he?~ with?~ Merlin, _yes_!

 

“G’morning,” a deep voice purred.

 

He turned around to face Evan. “Good morning,” he replied, leaning in to kiss Evan, his slighter body pressed up against Evan.

 

“Ngh, so tempting,” Evan planted a kiss on top of Regulus’s forehead (yet again, almost lovingly…) before swinging his legs out of the bed and getting up, “But alas, I have training… we can pick this up where we left off when I get back though, if you want?”

 

“I’ve no complaints,” Regulus smiled, pulling the covers off of himself before being stopped by Evan.

 

“No… it’s cold outside,” Evan looked at him (almost lovingly), “and you don’t have to be up… well, _at all_. Get some more rest, I have some food in my room if you’re hungry,” Evan smirked at him, “I could feed you if you want.”

 

“Hmmm, breakfast in bed, sounds tempting,” Regulus smiled up at him, “but I’ll have to decline. I need to keep looking for my… er, friend’s mate.”

 

“Friend’s mate?” Evan frowned. “Not the same friend you… _practiced_ with, I presume?”

 

Regulus blushed. “No, not the same friend. Regretfully I’m not at a liberty to mention whom it is, all that I know is that when I find them~” Regulus sighed. “I-I can’t tell you… unfortunately this is my _Ad Aetatem_ , I’m not supposed to get help.”

 

“You're not to receive _royal_ help,” Evan sighed, before running a hand lovingly down Regulus’s back. “I’m not royal” he stood up once more, going to his closet to retrieve clothes. “And Regulus… about what you said last night… I-I think that I may also~”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“That!” Regulus frowned, sitting up and pointing at a brown satchel on the top shelf.

 

“Oh, this?” Evan frowned. “Someone’s bag, a guard brought it in a few nights ago, why? Oh! Is yours similar to it?”

 

“No,” Regulus slid out of bed, cursing how cold the entire room was. The air, the floors. He walked over to the closet and pulled it out. “That’s _my_ satchel.”

 

“But there’s no mirror in it,” Regulus’s heart sank. _Oh no_ , now his parents would _surely_ kill him, “Just some red glass.”

 

“What?” Regulus snapped to attention.

 

“Yeah,” Evan opened the satchel and pulled out what Regulus knew was the mirror… which had gone from being a reflective surface, to a red colour.”

 

“What?” Regulus felt like he was spinning. He turned the mirror towards him and it became clear again. No, no he didn’t want to believe it. Sirius-Sirius liked _girls_!

 

 _And boys_ , a voice in the back of his mind sneered. _Less commonly, but who wouldn’t want **Evan**? Sweet, handsome, hung Evan. You fool, the last time that you looked in the mirror you saw_ …

 

Mathias. He had seen Mathias, who always hung around Evan… but he hadn’t seen Evan…

 

 _Because he was supposed to be looking through Evan’s eyes_.

 

“Reg,” Evan placed a hand on his shoulder. The tattooed hand. Regulus jerked away from the boy’s comforting touch as though it were acid.

 

“Your… your tattoo,” Regulus breathed. It was identical to the ones the other Border Guards had… but… but Regulus had the sinking feeling that it was somehow different. “When’d you get it?”

 

“This?” he shrugged. “I-I’ve had it all my life. I was born with it, my parents took that as a sign that my Great Task should be earning a knighthood within the border guard.”

 

Regulus felt tears start to run down his cheeks. Of course. Of course he should’ve known. Regulus wasn’t meant to have nice things… those were an heir’s prerogative.

 

Regulus turned, walking over to the bed and grabbing his clothes from the floor. Putting them on. “Reg, Reg what’s wrong? Reg, tell me what’s~”

 

“Regulus.”

 

“What?”

 

Regulus threw his tunic on. “ _Regulus_ , my name is Regulus,” then his breeches. “And your name is Evan. And this-this _night_ here, it **_never happened_** ,” then his socks, then his pants.

 

“What do you-what do you mean?” Evan looked heartbroken. Had Regulus decided that sleeping with him had been a mistake? Had he had regrets? Decided to be the good, pure person that Evan had read him as upon meeting him, and chosen to save what was left of himself for marriage?

 

“I came here on a quest,” he growled angrily.

 

“I know~ to find your friend’s mate.”

 

“To find my _brother’s true love_ , the _one person_ who would be able to break the spell,” Regulus screamed. “And it’s _you_! _The mirror turned red for you! **You have the bloody tattoo~ AND YOU WERE BORN WITH IT NO LESS**_!”

 

Evan stood there in shock. “Reg~” he walked over to the very evidently emotionally distraught prince, before a silent _Flipendo_ was cast, slamming him into the wall. Oh well, at least his heart wasn’t the only broken thing in the room.

 

“Regulus,” Regulus repeated. “I am going to take you back to the Black Kingdom. You are going to kiss my brother and break his curse. Thereafter, you are going to have a respectable, royal marriage and live the rest of your lives together, while I go off with Barty, and we are _never_ going to speak of this, or let it get out. Am I understood?”

 

“Affirmative” Evan sighed, unable to meet Regulus’s eyes.

 

.

 

“Ooh, better luck next time,” Sirius smirked as James walked in, his hair half burned off of his scalp.”

 

“I’m telling you, she loves me. Just give it time.”

 

“I honestly don’t know why you buy into all of that crap about love.”

 

“Because it’s true, Sirius, it’s all true. And one day, when the curse is broken, you’ll realize that. You just need to meet someone who isn’t instantly taken by you.”

 

“Like you, you mean?” Sirius smirked, wanting to fluster the younger male.

 

“Bah! You’re like a brother to me, no way! I mean like… hmm… Fellina Avery?”

 

“Eurgh, no! I can’t stand any of the purebloods my parents would’ve set me up with had it not been for this curse. No, I’m resigned to marry whomever it is that breaks this curse. That’s it.”

 

“Even if you don’t love them back?”

 

“Of course I’ll love them back, they’re my _soulmate_ … even if I don’t love them that weird _a hundred moons sparkle in your eyes… let me stalk you!_ way that you love Evans.”

 

“Oh, haha, you don’t know what you're missing out on!”

 

“Stalking a person? Bro, no wonder she sent you back half-bald!” Sirius laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sighs because I was 100% sure that this plot twist was too obvious.)


	7. Look around, there weren't many options

“What’s going on between you two?” Mathias whispered to Evan. “I thought you two hooked up.”

 

“We did.”

 

“Then? Did something happen? I thought for sure you two would be compatible.”

 

“We were- _are_! But Regulus…” Evan sighed. “You know about his brother’s curse, right?”

 

“Well _duh_ , it’s only the talk of the realm!”

 

“Well, apparently it can be cured with a kiss~”

 

“Of course, all amorous curses can be cured with true love’s kiss.”

 

“And the person had to be found using a mirror~”

 

“That’s the one Reg lost, right? I thought that you were going to help him get it back.”

 

“I was~ but it turned out that I already had it… and that I’m the person.”

 

“ _What_!? You're Sirius Black’s one true love? What the bloody hell!?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Regulus could _not_ have taken that well… Oh my Merlin~ and you two _slept_ together!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Well, what’re you going to do?”

 

“What _can_ I do? Obviously I’ve got to go back with Regulus and kiss his brother.”

 

“But I thought that you liked _Regulus_.”

 

“I do! But he wants to pretend that last night never happened. Anyways, he wants us to leave immediately, before the sun sets.”

 

“That’s rough… are you~ would you marry Sirius, I mean?”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, since you two are soul mates.”

 

Evan pondered the question. “I’m not really sure… I’ve never met him…”

 

“But?”

 

“But, as I was going to tell Regulus this morning… I think that I might be in love him.”

 

“Love? You’ve barely known him two days.”

 

“I know but… I dunno, I’ve just never met somebody I’ve clicked so quickly with, it’s like~ remember when you and I met? I had that friend, Hafri, whom I’d known since I was born, but when I met you we were closer in a week than I was with him in fifteen years.”

 

Mathias sighed. “Do what you’ve got to do… but remember, at the end of the day, whatever you choose to do… it might destroy a family… it might destroy _two_ families, Ev. Reg’s your cousin’s fiancé.”

 

“I know.”

 

.

 

“Moony, ready for tonight?” Peter grunted. They’d spent a day and night working on the cave, and Peter had just laid the final boulder in front of it, locking in both himself and Remus, who was lying, sweating on the floor.

 

“Nnghh. Wormy, I don’t feel so good,” Remus groaned, tossing and turning on his side.

 

“Don’t worry,” the younger boy murmured. “It’ll all be better soon. I promise. The moon’ll be up in a few hours, and then in a few more it’ll all be over.”

 

“For this month anyways,” Remus spit out bitterly.

 

.

 

“Sirius, they’ll be here in a few minutes~ Arcturus even spied them from his tower, says they’re on the brinks of the city~ so can you _please_ come down to the landing now!” his mother hollered up the stairs at him.

 

“Coming, coming,” he walked down the stairs, dressed handsomely.

 

“Excellent, now. Into the waiting room you go, can’t have anyone not immune seeing you,” Walburga ushered him into a fancy room with a handful of armchairs and even more couches and tables.

 

The Notts were the first to arrive. Allan and his sister (who was not immune to Sirius) Calypso walked into the room.

 

“ _Sirius_ ,” she sighed dreamily.

 

“Don’t worry, I swear that I’ll _Imperio_ her if she becomes a bother.”

 

“Not at all. Say, and I already know the answer to this~ by any chance have you seen my brother recently?”

 

“Not since Cal’s birthday, why?”

 

“No reason, thanks though.”

 

“Where is he, anyways?”

 

“Not a clue. But I'm sure he’ll be back soon enough.”

 

.

 

“Regulus, _talk_ to me,” Evan begged as they rode horseback to the shores of Le Strange.

 

“I have nothing to say to you,” he sighed. “Look… this’ll all be much easier if we act like nothing happened between us.”

 

A moment of silence.

 

“Look, in the room. I was going to tell you that~”

 

“ _Don’t_ ~”

 

“~I think that I might have feelings for you too.”

 

“ _What_?” Regulus snapped his head back, angrily. “What gave you any sort of impression that I had _any kind of feelings for you_?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Evan replied bitterly. “Maybe because those were the words that died on your lips last night. They are, aren’t they? The ones you told me to forget. Well guess what, I’m _not forgetting_. I don’t care who your brother is, dammit, I want you!”

 

Regulus laughed humorlessly. “Please, Sirius? _Everyone_ wants Sirius… and besides, it doesn’t matter either way. I’m engaged… and now I guess you'll be too.”

 

.

 

Then came the Crouches.

 

“I’m sorry to hear that your wife has passed,” Mrs. Black offered her condolences to Mr. Crouch.

 

“No problem. Especially not given our agreement.”

 

“Why certainly.”

 

Sirius was going to be sick.

 

.

 

Peter glanced over as his friend began to transform, transforming himself into a rat to keep Remus company. It was summer, the night would not be long.

 

.

 

“You can _not_ allow your father to marry my brother!” Sirius hissed as he grabbed Barty by the collar and pinned him to the wall.

 

“Wow, Sirius, it’s great to see you too,” Barty rolled his eyes.

 

“I’m _serious_ , you prat!”

 

“And I’m Barty, what else is new?” Barty smirked at the look on his best-friend-cum-fiancé’s-brother’s-face. “And I have no clue what on earth it is you’re talking about. My father isn’t going to touch your brother, you dolt. It’s why Reg and I insisted on signing the papers early, just incase an event arose wherein one of our parents died and we’d otherwise be obligated to fulfill the marriage to someone whom we had not intended.”

 

“So what did your father mean when he said that the arrangement ‘took care of everything’?”

 

“My father is abdicating come the new year. I’ll be stepping up as King. Reg and I are to wed before that.”

 

“How soon before that?”

 

“My seventeenth birthday.”

 

“That’s in five months!”

 

“And I’ll be crowned in six, what else is new, Sirius?”

 

“He's too young!”

 

“You think that I don’t know that!? We’re _both_ too young Sirius, but there’s a million ways that this could’ve gone and frankly, this is far from the worst.”

 

After a moment, Barty sighed. “Look, Sirius. I know that you don’t think I’m right for your brother, but look around… there weren’t many options.”

 

.

 

“We’d better stop here for the night,” Regulus’s tone left no room for protests. “It’s getting dark.”

 

.

 

 _What’s going on_ , Peter watched Remus in horror. This wasn’t… this wasn’t normal… he didn’t usually do this.

 

Remus was going ballistic, running around the cave like a crazed animal, and then…

 

And then he started clawing at the boulders

 

“Remus, no!” Peter squeaked, but it was becoming increasingly clearer to him that his friend was no longer lucid. What could have possibly gone wrong? _He’d_ _taken the potion for Merlin’s sake!!_

 

But maybe that was it… maybe the potion hadn’t been fixed correctly. Maybe~ no… Severus was a _ridiculously_ accomplished potion maker, and although he was many, _many_ things~ _awful_ things~ Severus Snape would _never_ intentionally screw with a potion to deceive someone. He had _some_ morals (regardless of what Sirius and James said).

 

But it was for naught.

 

Remus was out.

 

.

 

“We’re stopping here for tonight.”

 

The situation was incredibly awkward, or at least it was for Evan, Regulus didn’t seem fazed at all, just pissed. The two hadn’t managed a single conversation since the start of their trip.

 

“OK.”

 

No response.

 

“Regulus… I’m sorry that things didn’t work out between us.”

 

 _Nothing_.

 

“Regulus… please, _please_ talk to me.”

 

Not. A. Word.

 

“Fine. For what it’s worth, even though I want you to know that I didn’t choose this. I’m _sorry_.”

 

Nothing.

 

Sighing, Evan walked away down to where he knew an old creek was. He kicked a tree, screaming in frustration. Why couldn’t Regulus understand that it wasn’t his damn fault~ wasn’t _any_ of their faults. Heck, if Evan had had his way he probably would’ve tried to convince Regulus to run away with him, somewhere outside of the Six Kingdoms~ they could’ve run away to Grave Land or Fontaine or bloody Camelot! Just the two of them, no family, no pressure.

 

But even though he barely knew Regulus (seven days if you counted the three that Regulus was unconscious for) he knew that there was no way that he’d agree to walking out on his family. No way he’d choose himself for a fucking change. After all, he’d never even _heard_ about the mirror before this, the Blacks had done next to nothing to find their eldest son’s soulmate to liberate his curse. Then they send their youngest son, without so much as a single guard, to find Sirius’s soulmate. And look at how that had turned out! Le Strange was a fucking dangerous kingdom! Regulus had turned up at their doorstep almost _dead_ , if Mat hadn’t been so good at potions and he at charms, Regulus _would_ have died. He would have died, and his parents probably wouldn’t have given a shit.

 

“What the~!?” he gasped as he heard a scream from their campsite. That sounded an awful lot like Little Black.

 

He rushed up towards where their campsite was and watched the male in fierce combat with… a werewolf? What the bloody hell!? There were no lone werewolves in Le Strange, only the one pack~ but packs hunted _together_ and besides, they were kept underground.

 

He cast a knockback jinx at it. “ _Incarcerous_!” he called, rushing over to where Regulus was while the ropes fought against the wolf. He needed to make sure that they boy was OK. Sure, he was hurt by the sudden cold-shoulder, but it wouldn’t do well to have a royal from another kingdom getting injured in Le Strange.

 

Once he made sure that the boy was breathing, he advanced on the wolf, who was still struggling, albeit with less energy, against the ropes. Evan smirked, he’d thrown a charm in as well to make the ropes tighter the more one struggled. Time to kill the wolf, Le Strange was no place for rogue wolves to be roaming around potentially killing people.

 

“ _No! Stop_!” Evan turned around.

 

A pudgy boy with mousy hair was running towards them, appearing to be a little out of breath as though he had been running for miles. “Stop!”

 

“Pettigrew,” he heard Regulus breath as the male used one arm to clutch at where his stomach was bleeding heavily (Evan was pretty sure that he saw a few guts). “Shit,” the boy cursed. “It must be Lupin. _Don’t curse!”_

The pudgy boy gasped as he laid eyes on Regulus. “Merlin! My Lord, I am so sorry. Your brother sent us- er, uhm, _I_ after you!”

 

“It’s alright. I know that Lupin’s a werewolf, Peter. Just like I know that you’re all animagi. None of you are very good at being discrete.”

 

The boy blushed. “I’m so sorry. He wasn’t supposed to get out. Something weird happened with his Wolfsbane potion.”

 

“That’s impossible. I’d presume that Severus brewed it- he _never_ makes mistakes.”

 

Pettigrew looked down at Regulus’s gashes, paling. “Oh gods above, uh, sir. That-that’s not going to, um, you know… turn you, is it?”

 

“No. I wasn’t bitten, only scratched. It’ll scar over, and I may become wolf-like but it won’t turn me. Now come, let us put Lupin out of his misery.” At Pettigrew’s fearful look he rolled his eyes. “No. Not like that. We’re going to put an _immobulus_ spell on him. We’ll renew the spell hourly.”

 

“Oh… OK,” the boy breathed a sigh of relief, before glancing at Evan. “Uh, who’s that?” he pointed at Evan.

 

Evan rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance. He strode over to where Regulus was. “We need to patch you up before you lose more blood,” he forcefully pushed Regulus back onto his back, ignoring the boy’s protests… but there was no blood.

 

“I’ve _been_ healing myself. I already put on some dittany,” he drew it from his pocket. “ _And_ I cast the basic healing spells. How else do you think I’m staying up? And don’t _touch me_!” he snapped, wincing as the scabs that were barely holding on due to the amount of blood building up behind them were stretched. It was the best that he could do on his own, and he was too proud to admit it.

 

Evan was flustered. He’d just wanted to help the boy! No, enough was enough. He’d been nothing but kind and understanding to Regulus, and the boy had just been gods awful to him! It wasn’t _his fault_ that he was supposed to be magically bound to Regulus’s brother instead of him! Had he had the choice he would have (a few hours ago) chosen Regulus hands down regardless of who his brother was or how well they may or may not get on. _Regulus_ was the one making this an issue.

 

“Well I’m sorry then,” he snapped, glaring at the boy, knowing full well that he’d regret it the next day. “Well, alright then. If you’re so independent then you can take first watch over the beast. I’m going to sleep,” he sneered knowing full well that he wouldn’t actually be able to sleep knowing that people were in danger, but Regulus didn’t need to know that.

 

“Good, maybe you’ll finally catch up on that _beauty_ sleep of yours,” Regulus sneered back.

 

“Didn’t hear you complaining about my looks last night, Black,” Evan hissed.


	8. I've made a horrible mistake

“Remus, are you alright?” Regulus greeted, sitting opposite his brother’s best-friend.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” the boy panted in excruciating pain as he slowly began to recover from the previous night. “Urghh… what-what happened? Did I shift?” he seemed to realize whom he was talking to. “Fuck! Er~”

 

“It’s OK, I’ve known for a long time now,” Regulus reassured in an uncharacteristic show of empathy. “Yes. Yes you did shift. You ran all the way here~”

 

“I didn’t attack you, did I?”

 

“No,” Regulus lied.

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Evan grunted from where he lay twenty metres away, earning a glare and a huff from Regulus.

 

“Oh no, Regulus! I’m so sorry!” sure Remus might be intimidated by the little prince, but they _were_ on a first-name basis.

 

“It’s alright. Now, I’m assuming that my brother sent you.”

 

“Yes, Regulus. Sirius was worried that your parents had sent you off to be groomed for young Barty Crouch Jr.”

 

Evan tensed.

 

“No, no they didn’t.”

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?”

 

Regulus saw no point in lying. “I was sent to retrieve Evan here,” he gestured blindly, not wanting to look in the other man’s direction, “and bring him back to our kingdom.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because he can break Sirius’s curse. He’s the true-love foretold in the prophecy.”

 

“Oh,” Remus blinked in an odd way. “Well, that’s great, I guess. Sirius’ll be thrilled.”

 

 _Yes he will_ , Regulus thought grimly, _and I will be too because he is my brother and I love him…_

_I’ve made a horrible mistake._

 


	9. we're cousins

Sirius hated Crouch. He hated Avery. He hated all of these dark as hell witches and wizards. He regretted sending Moony and Peter after Regulus, at least then he’d have his friends with him.

 

Sure, he had James, aka his _best fucking friend in the whole fucking world_ , but it wasn’t the same as having all of the Marauders around. At least then he’d have the comfort of their presence while he proceeded to ignore everyone in the room but James.

 

For this reason, when his mother commented at the Grand Dinner that Regulus would be arriving the next day, he was elated. He had no doubt in his mind that Moony and Wormtail had found Regulus and were with him, and when his brother got back he was _so_ going to grill him about where their parents had sent him before blasting him about leaving without telling Sirius.

 

.

 

“Now, Bartemius,” his father chided disdainfully, “do not forget, as Regulus’s fiancé, you are expected to be seen being intimate with him. When he arrives, don’t hug him or shake his hand, pull him in and give him a kiss,” his father looked dead serious despite the fact that Barty currently wished that he’d never been born.

 

Of course he had to make it look intimate. _They both_ knew that they had to make it intimate. They'd talked about it through the letters they’d used to correspond the last few months.

 

“Of course, father,” gods above I can’t _wait_ until you die…

 

.

 

Regulus, Evan, Remus and Peter were received by a royal envoy. They mounted horses and as they trotted through the town, passersby threw flower petals, salt, sugar and rice at them.

 

Regulus and Evan still weren’t talking, which was scaring Peter and Remus.

 

“Do you know what could be wrong with them?” Remus shot a whisper at Peter.

 

“Well,” Peter thought. “Uh, there was… there was _something_ , but it was weird.”

 

“What?”

 

“Uhm, when we first met them~ when you were transformed, that is~ I heard them bickering and then Evan made… he, well, uhm, he made a comment.”

 

“What’d he say?”

 

“‘You weren’t complaining about my looks last night’ or something to that effect.”

 

“What!?” Remus gasped. “Regulus likes _Evan_!? But that’s~ _what_!? Urgh, Evan’s supposed to be with Sirius!”

 

“Yeah, well, it shouldn’t matter anyways, right. Regulus’s engaged.”

 

“And magical law dictates that Evan and Sirius’ll get married.”

 

“So this’ll all blow over?”

 

“I hope so.”

 

.

 

Regulus couldn’t wait to get back to the castle. He couldn’t _wait_ to be as _far from fucking possible_ from Evan. It almost made him grateful that this was his last year in the castle, that he was engaged to his best-friend who would probably agree to him moving in sooner than necessary.

 

And there the castle was… oh shit, he’d forgotten that the royal families usually visited around this time of year.

 

His heart leapt when he saw Barty. He’d cast cleaning spells on himself prior to them getting off of the boat, of course. He knew his parents wouldn’t accept a quest~ even one that they’d sanctioned~ as a reason for one of their children, a _Black_ , to be filthy, so he wasn’t dirty per se, but he wasn’t as clean as he could be either.

 

He got off of his horse and found Barty standing in front of him.

 

“Hey,” he greeted his friend.

 

“Hey,” Barty smiled back, “ready to start operation: fake relationship?” he grinned.

 

Regulus had nearly forgotten about that. They were meant to start it this summer. “Sure thing,” he smiled, this’d help him take his mind off of the blond menace he’d acquired, completing the kiss when Barty leaned in. Nothing too indecent, as his parents would never forgive him for being obscene, but nothing that local media would call ‘impersonal’ either.

 

He drew away smiling, before turning to his parents and greeting them.

 

“It’s him, he’s Sirius’s soulmate,” Regulus shot a pointed look at Evan.

 

“A _boy_?” Walburga frowned. “I~I suppose… I do hope that he’s not some commoner, we need him to be able to carry offspring.”

 

“Relax, mother, I’m sure that the Fates wouldn’t be that cruel.”

 

Regulus turned back to Barty, who was staring dumbfounded as Evan made their way towards him.

 

“Do you know him?” Regulus frowned, unsure as to why his friend was behaving so strangely.

 

“Cousin,” Barty stuttered, reaching out to shake Evan’s hand. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

 

“Cousin?” Regulus mouthed, shocked.

 

“Yes. We’re cousins,” Evan nodded, not quite meeting Regulus’s eyes. “He’s my father’s sister’s son.”

 

“ _First_ cousins,” Regulus nodded dumbly. He felt so betrayed, and yet not surprised. Why wouldn’t fate screw him over even more? It clearly loved doing just that. “That’s nice.”

 

“Well, since I don’t have any siblings and he refuses to acknowledge his half-brother, we were mainly raised together. He’s the brother I never had,” Barty laughed uneasily, still unsure as to what the man was doing here, with his best-friend no less.

 

“Well, I wasn’t really expecting to drop by. It’s a long story, really. One that I’m sure that your _fiancé_ would be happy to share with you.”

 

“He’s Sirius’s soulmate,” Regulus blurted out once Evan was out of earshot. “He’s the one who can break the curse.”

 

“Oh,” Barty nodded. “That’s nice. Is that why things between you two are so awkward? Because you always figured Sirius was into girls,” the message in Barty’s eyes was clear as day: _you can tell me anything, we’re best-friends._

 

“N-no, it’s just, haha, you know, it’s all just taking some getting used to,” he lied.

 

“I see,” Barty nodded, doing his best to not sound suspicious. “Well then, we have much to catch up about, and the sooner we’re out of sight, the sooner we can be normal again.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

.

 

“My soulmate?” Sirius blinked.

 

“Yes, your soulmate,” Walburga nodded.

 

“But- _how_!?”

 

“Clearly you have some bisexual tendencies that you have been keeping from us, son.”

 

“Well, _yeah_ , but still… he just, I don’t know… he doesn’t seem my type.”

 

“Maybe you two just don’t know each other well enough yet.”

 

Sirius had to concede. His judgment of the man had been made while staring at him from an upper tower as he awaited the arrival of his friends ~~and brother~~.

 

“Alright. When shall I meet him.”

 

“Tonight. Normally, we would stress the need for decency, but as this is your _soulmate_ we thought it best that you two share a room.”

 

Sirius nodded, unable to see the harm in that. If he didn’t like the guy, he’d just use a charm to split the bed in two, easy as that.


	10. That creep better not screw with Sirius's happiness

“What’s _really_ going on between you and Reg?” Barty hissed at his cousin.

 

“Why do you care?”

 

“He’s my fiancé.”

 

“Why do you _really_ care?”

 

“He’s my best-friend, I _love him_! And I _don’t_ enjoy it when he’s uncomfortable.”

 

“We slept together,” Evan shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“You~ _what_!?” Barty paled. “How~ _why_? You’re _Sirius’s_ soulmate!”

 

“We didn’t know. One of my men had attacked him and delivered to me the bag which contained the mirror he needed to identify me with. He found it the morning after~ no, I didn’t know it was his. I was only told that a suspicious looking character was carrying it and that he’d resisted interrogation.”

 

“So you… oh gods, that couldn’t have been easy on him… on… on you,” Barty gasped, staring at his cousin. “You still have feelings for him!”

 

“What?” Evan snarled, sounding slightly defensive, “Why on earth would I have feelings for him?”

 

“Well for starters, it’s fucking _Regulus Black_ , heartthrob of the seven kingdoms. But seriously? Because you followed him here. You had no real reason to, and I know for a fact that you don’t believe in soulmates… you can’t just throw what you have with him away, you do know that, right?”

 

“There’s nothing there, we’ve known each other for four fucking days. And he’s a prince, his word was royal decree, or maybe you’ve forgotten the power the Blacks gained over Le Strange when Bellatrix married Rodolphus.”

 

“ _Right_ ,” Barty chuckled disbelievingly. “And yet he gave you his virginity. His real virginity, not his oral one~”

 

“How do you know about that?”

 

“His oral escapades? I was with him for a lot of them, hell, one of them was me,” he lied. Evan’s fists clenched and an angry look flashed across his face. _Bingo_!

 

“That sounds fun,” Evan smiled through gritted teeth. “But Regulus and I… what we had was a one night stand.”

 

 _I doubt that_ , Barty thought watching his cousin’s retreating form.

 

.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Barty smirked from outside of Regulus’s door.

 

“No, not yet. You do know that you can go without me, right?”

 

“And what kind of fake-lover does that? Besides, I missed you. You _do_ remember that we’re best-friends, right?”

 

“Of course,” Regulus laughed from behind the door, “But the more we chat the longer I’ll take, Barty.”

 

“Of course, of course,” Barty laughed, “you’re so high maintenance, you know that?” he joked, “Geez, what am I getting into? Spending the rest of my life waiting for you to get ready,” the door opened so that Regulus could whack his best-friend upside the head whilst laughing himself. Gods above he’d missed Barty. He ducked back in to finish getting ready.

 

.

 

“Wait, so you mean to tell me that there’s a possibility that Regulus likes Evan,” James gasped. “Does Sirius know!?”

 

“No, and we’re not going to tell him. Look, it’s absurd, and we’re also only _speculating_ ~ we don’t _actually_ know why things between them are so tense, and maybe-maybe Peter misheard~”

 

“No, no I didn’t. I heard it clear as day. ‘You weren’t complaining about my looks last night.’”

 

“What!?” James yelped. “Dude! That implies _so much_ more than just Regulus having a crush on him! Holy nuts, _they kissed_!”

 

“What!?” Remus and Peter shrieked.

 

“Totally! Oh gods, oh gods, we _have_ to tell Sirius!”

 

“No!” Remus barked, “We won’t tell him anything. Look, in a few months, Regulus is leaving anyways. He’ll be scarce around here, we won’t need to worry about whatever happened there causing any issues. And besides, we don’t know anything as a _fact_ , this is mere speculation. If something really happened, I’m sure Regulus would tell Sirius himself eventually, it’s not our secret.”

 

“Fine… but I just… I just can’t believe that Regulus would do something like this,” James frowned, “I mean sure, he’s always been insanely jealous of Sirius, and a bit of a creep, but this? Isn’t this taking it a bit far?”

 

“We don’t _know_ ,” Remus groaned. “ _James_ , **_please_** drop it, OK?”

 

“Fine. But that creep better not screw with Sirius’s happiness.”

 

.

 

“You look… stunning,” Barty grinned.

 

“I’m a Black, tell me something I don’t know,” Regulus smirked, causing Barty to roll his eyes.

 

“You’re unbelievable.”

 

“That’s why you love me.”

 

“Sure, ‘love’.”

 

“Oh come on, you couldn’t live without me.”

 

“Or with you.”

 

“Seems like we’re at in impasse.”

 

“Mmmm,” Barty chuckled. “Is it weird that it’s not weird pretending to be your lover?”

 

“Well, if you think about it, an ideal boyfriend is someone who’s your best-friend that you’re sexually attracted to, and even though there’s no attraction here, we _are_ best-friends. _Close_ best-friends at that.”

 

“We’re not _that_ close.”

 

“Barty, when I won that duel six years ago, you jumped into my arms and wrapped your arms tightly around my neck and refused to let go.”

 

“I was _proud_ of you.”

 

“Yeah, and it was fucking adorable, but you _have to admit_ it looked a **_little_** more than friendly.”

 

“OK. Plus, we’re always sneaking off together.”

 

“True.”

 

“We’re so weird.”

 

“It’s why we’re friends.”

 

“Speaking of, are you ready for the Drink-A-Thon tonight?”

 

“Ready? Please, I’ve been practicing for _months_! I’m finally going to wipe that smug grin off of Avery’s face.”

 

“Yeah, well I just want to beat _you_ so…”

 

“Hey! What happened to loyalty.”

 

“We’ll worry about that after the wedding, babe,” Barty winked.

 

“Oh gods, you are _so_ unbelievable,” but Regulus was laughing and that was all that Barty truly wanted.

 

.

 

“Isn’t this all a bit much?” Evan frowned as a handmaiden dressed him up in some clothes that the Black Family had gifted to him.

 

“Perhaps,” a voice drawled from the doorway.

 

Evan turned around and found himself facing a man whom he’d last seen as a boy, Severus Snape.

 

“Severus,” he greeted, a grin on his face, “what’re you doing here?”

 

“Well, I heard the rumors that a blond from Le Strange had arrived and I needed to see who it was,” the gaunt man smiled. “It’s good to see you, Evan.”

 

“Likewise, Sev. The last time we saw one another was when we were boys. Are you still dabbling in the Dark Arts?”

 

“Of course. Are you still trying to prove your mettle to your father?”

 

“Forever and always.”

 

Severus smiled. “I heard that you were engaged to Dick Black.”

 

“We’re not engaged yet. We won’t know that I’m his soulmate _for sure_ until I kiss him tonight.”

 

“Alright, alright.”

 

“Is he really that bad?”

 

“You have no idea.”

 

.

 

“That’s him,” Sirius hummed to himself as he stood on one of the balconies overlooking the room. “He’s… he’s kind of cute, I guess. But I always figured I’d wind up with a woman… I hope he’s not an ass, it’d be sad if my supposed ‘soulmate’ was an ass, assuming that soulmates exist at all.”

 

He watched as Evan was directed upwards towards him. _Right, remember the plan: kiss him up here in front of everyone, dance with him once, go and take your position beside father at the banquet table, take him back to your room…_

He wondered deep down if Evan had ever had sex before. He, thanks to his rather depressing predicament, had never had the opportunity to engage in sexual activity with another person (he shot a glance down to his right hand).

 

“Hello,” the boy greeted.

 

“Hello,” Sirius’s voice caught in his throat as he was suddenly hit with a fresh wave of pheromones. He suddenly found himself intoxicated by the man in front of him. Was this what love felt like?

 

“I’m Evan,” he smiled and held out his hand. “It’s an honour to meet you.”

 

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Sirius grinned, accepting the handshake.

 

.

 

Evan couldn’t believe it. He’d honest to gods thought that he’d be repulsed by Sirius’s presence… but now… for some strange reason, he felt a bond with him. A bond he’d never felt with anybody… almost.

 

Evan watched as Sirius was momentarily distracted by a moving shape down below. He joined his to-be-lover at the balcony rail to see what he was looking at, and his heart stilled. _Regulus_.

 

Regulus had just walked in with Barty. Regulus, dressed in handsome robes and looking as elegant and noble as the day he’d first met him… well, the day he’d first seen him walk since he technically met the boy while he was unconscious.

 

Barty and him were laughing, and then Barty forced Regulus into a sudden twirl that resulted in the older man falling into Barty’s arms and being encased by Barty.

 

Evan felt sick.

 

“They put on a convincing show, I must admit,” Sirius muttered. “But they’re not right for each other.”

 

“I agree,” Evan gulped, watching the pair enviously, “But it’s for the best.”

 

“You’re right.”


	11. He's Cured

“Lords and Ladies,” Orion Black announced to the crowd. “I am here to make a special announcement. As I’m sure that you’ve all heard by now, we’ve found the person who has the ability to break our son’s, Prince Sirius’s, curse,” a polite applause followed. “I present to you, my son, Prince Sirius Black, and his soulmate, Sir Evan Rosier.”

 

The two stepped forwards out of the shadows and bowed politely at the applause that awaited them.

 

Regulus felt jealousy burning up in his chest as the two looked into each other’s eyes, Evan sliding his hands down to Sirius’s ass as Sirius took Evan’s head in his hands and… and…

 

He couldn’t bear to watch it, yet he couldn’t look away as the two drew nearer and made out like… like soulmates…

 

He felt his heart shatter. Barty squeezed his hand, bringing him back into reality.

 

When the pair drew apart, another applause erupted, and James went up besides the pair and drew a drop of blood from Sirius’s thumb, placing it in a potion. The potion turned green.

 

“He’s cured!” the Knight announced.

 

Cue an even larger applause.

 

Regulus felt a weight in his chest. It was almost as though somehow, someway, he may’ve made a mistake, Evan might not really be Sirius’s… He knew that he should feel happy for his brother, and yet… yet instead all he felt was an intense jealousy, coupled with self-hatred because, well, Evan was his _brother_ ’s soulmate. Not his.

 

Almost instinctively, he glanced to the side of the room, where his brother’s friend, Lupin, watched the couple forlornly. Curious… very curious.

 

.

 

Sirius smiled as he and Evan parted. Evan bowed respectfully before him and he did the same before whisking his soulmate off to the dance floor to celebrate being free of his curse.

 

He’d never felt happier, and yet something felt off.

 

He glanced over at his brother, who Crouch was dancing with only somewhat decently… yup, that must be it.

 

After dinner, Sirius escorted Evan to their bedchambers. According to the talks held at dinner, the two would be wedded within the month.

 

.

 

“You like Sirius, don’t you?” Regulus whispered, startling Remus who had been staring after Sirius’s retreating form in the hallway like a lovesick puppy.

 

“And you like Evan, don’t you?” he was glad that Remus hadn’t tried to deny it. He hated it when commoners played pretend.

 

“Liked,” Regulus sighed, “And that was before I knew that he and Sirius were, you know.”

 

“How did you not know?”

 

“A guy stole my bag, the mirror was in it. Luckily the guy was one of Evan’s guards,” unluckily I only found out _after_ I’d slept with him…

 

“Oh well, there’s nothing we can do,” Remus sighed. “They’re meant for each other.”

 

“True… but we could always… seek comfort,” Regulus met Remus’s eyes.

 

“What do you mean?” Remus frowned, not sure if he liked where this was going.

 

“Oh, you know,” Regulus waved airily, “you and me, just a one-night stand.”

 

“What!?” Remus hissed.

 

“Sssh! And come on, don’t act like this doesn’t appeal to you too. I’m not a fool, I know that if you were drunk enough you’d think that I were Sirius,” he brushed a hand through Remus’s golden hair, “And… and I might think you were Evan.”

 

“I thought you said that you ‘lik _ed_ ’ him.”

 

“I never had the chance to get it out of my system.”

 

Remus bit his lips. “No. No, no, no! You’re just trying to use me to get back at Sirius.”

 

Regulus’s head jutted up. “No. I’m not. And if we do this, Sirius can never know. _Nobody_ can ever know!”

 

Oh right, Regulus was engaged. Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “And what of your fiancé? There’s no way that he’s alright with this.”

 

“Barty? Barty’s my best-friend, neither of us are romantically inclined towards the other. We’re just putting on a show for the sake of politics. Besides, I’m sure sleeping with you isn’t worse than sleeping with his cousin.”

 

Remus groaned. He wanted to say no, he really did… but the offer was so tempting. He sighed.

 

“OK. But we’re going to need to be really, _really_ drunk.”

 

“Already ahead of you. I have two bottles of Firewhiskey Strong ™ in my room stored in case of emergency,” Regulus winked. “Let’s go get wasted.”

 

.

 

(and now for the sex scene I never, _ever_ thought that I’d write, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Regulus x Remus):

 

Two bottles of alcohol down their throats, and Remus and Regulus were both as tipsy as could be.

 

Remus leaned over and gave Regulus a hard kiss, pushing the younger male back onto the bed and straddling him. “C’mere, Sirius,” he murmured, grinding his hips against Regulus’s.

 

“Ngh, Ev,” Regulus whimpered, thrusting his hips upwards to increase friction between his aching member and Remus’s.

 

Neither needed to be silent as Regulus had, in his grief, had the foresight to cast a locking charm (not something feeble that could be undone by ‘ _Alohamora_ ’) and a sound-proof charm that Severus had taught him on the room.

 

Remus reached into Regulus’s pants, pulling his dick up over the waistline, which stung a bit because of the elastic of his pants, but Regulus didn’t give a shit, opting to whine instead.

 

“Mmm, such a good slut,” Remus grinned down maniacally, baring his teeth like a wolf might as he squeezed the head of Regulus’s penis. “Tell me, does big brother know how desperate you get in bed?”

 

“Does he know how desperate _you_ get?” Regulus grunted, flipping them over so that he was on top, before pulling Remus’s pants down and latching his mouth onto the decently sized member in front of him. Remus cried out as Regulus moved lower, using his hand to jack Remus off as he sucked on the Werewolf’s balls like they were hard candy.

 

“Nngh,” Remus grabbed Regulus by the hair, pulling the sweet mouth back onto his dick and shoving it in. Regulus choked a little, his gag reflex kicking in before he took a deep breath through his nose and calmed himself down enough to relax his throat and allow Remus to keep fucking it as though it were a hand that Remus was jacking off into.

 

Regulus moved his tongue, tasting pre before Remus let go of his hair (at his urging) and he moved up to lock their lips in yet another kiss.

 

“Less clothes,” Remus grinned, drunk. “Let’s see what his Highness looks like _naked_.”

 

“Gladly,” Regulus smirked, whipping off his shirt. He frowned when he heard a hiss.

 

Remus’s hand traced the scar that the older boy had left on Regulus a few days ago as the prince’s booze-addled mind suddenly realized what the Wolf was looking at. “I did that, didn’t I.”

 

“Yes, you did,” Regulus kissed Remus hard on the lips, “It’s just a scratch though, I checked. It’ll heal.” Before Remus could protest, Regulus stood up and whipped off his pants. “ _Accio_ _shirt_ ,” Regulus pointed his wand at Remus’s shirt so now neither party was in their clothes. “Time to learn how a werewolf fucks. C’mon, your move, Lupin.”

 

Remus pulled Regulus back down to the bed roughly, before jumping on him and diving into him fiercely, running his hands up and down the prince’s sides, ravaging his nipples with his mouth until the boy’s chest looked half-mangled (which was OK, because they both knew that it wasn’t, and that even if it was they could easily fix a tissue-wound with magic) and rutting up against him roughly, Remus’s pre coating the both of them.

 

“Ngah- _ah_ , I~I, Merlin, Remus, I need you in me _now_!”

 

“So needy,” Lupin smirked before casting a spell that left Regulus open and wet, “You’re practically dripping.”

 

Regulus had never seen this side of Lupin before. Controlling, animalistic, _derogatory_ , coming from the usually meek and quiet boy it was a _hell_ of a turn-on.

 

“Aah, yes,” Regulus whimpered, “Give it to me. Your slut needs it.”

 

Remus growled before flipping Regulus over so that the boy was on his hands and knees, his ass exposed. Remus didn’t even wait before plunging straight in and battering Regulus’s prostrate, causing the boy to scream.

 

Remus groaned, thrusting and landed a heavy swat against the boy’s ass, resulting in yet another scream.

 

Regulus was seeing white, every thrust made by Remus delivered him more and more pleasure.

 

He was close, _so close_ from all of their foreplay. He reached down. Remus reached down as well, to grab his hand and lower it towards the base of his dick where he squeezed.

 

Regulus whined.

 

“Not yet,” Remus grunted in his ear, before using his other hand to spank the boy, causing Regulus to clench and Remus to groan in pleasure.

 

Eventually, after a bit more of this, Remus grunted, his thrusts becoming more and more erratic as he came deep within Regulus’s bowels.

 

“Now can I come?” Regulus whimpered, his cock throbbing painfully.

 

Remus grinned. He levitated a mirror so that it was behind him but facing Regulus, and also levitated an unlit candle so that it was positioned at Regulus’s ass as he sat up and lifted the boy into his lap. Somehow, his inebriated mind thought that this would be sexy.

 

He magicked the candle into fucking Regulus, changing tempo at whim as he jacked the boy off while using his mouth to once more assault the boy’s nipples and neck, leaving mark after mark along it. Regulus had his chin on Remus’s shoulder, watching himself moan as Remus continued to debauch him until finally, _finally_ ~ **_screaming_** ~ he too came, falling back down onto the bed.

 

Remus positioned him and got up to leave, but Regulus held his hand.

 

“Stay? Please. You’re not decent, someone might see you.”

 

“Where would I sleep?”

 

“Here, with me.”

 

“Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

 

“Lupin, you just fucked my brains out. I highly doubt that ‘cuddling’ is the most unbecoming we’ve done in this bed.”

 

Blushing, Remus sighed and slipped under the covers, falling asleep immediately.


	12. Honestly, I don't know

“Why’re you acting so weird?” James frowned at his friend.

 

“No reason,” Remus blushed.

 

He’d narrowly managed to avoid detection by a passing maid as he slipped out of Regulus’s room that morning.

 

“Sirius is cured,” Wormtail grinned. “We can all go out now.”

 

“He’s still crowned prince, you dumbass,” James rolled his eyes. “He can’t be out without an escort in public~ and he _definitely_ can’t be out with commoners like ourselves. Neither of us are his handservants.”

 

“But you’re a knight,” Remus insisted.

 

“Yeah, well… it’s not worth risking getting caught outside without an escort if the four of us can’t go together. I think for now we’re going to have to stick to Animagus+Remus.”

 

“Thank you for letting me be included,” Remus rolled his eyes.

 

“Well sorry, but you don’t have an animagus. And besides, I doubt you want to go around as a werewolf, right?”

 

“Right,” Remus muttered.

 

.

 

“Where’d you run off to last night?” Barty smirked. “I asked Nott and he said you were off chasing tail.”

 

“Huh?” It took Regulus a moment, he was still slightly hung over.

 

“You get laid?” Barty winked.

 

Oh. “No?”

 

“OK, now this time with conviction.”

 

Regulus sighed. “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

 

“With who?” fuck.

 

“I don’t know. One of Nott’s servants, I figured if I slept with someone low-profile then nobody would believe them.”

 

“Nice.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“Oh well, you know me. Spent a good bit of time making Mathilda blush before retreating to bed. One of these days… one of these days I’ll show her what it’s like to be with a man.”

 

“Isn’t she dating Brandon Bullstrode?”

 

“A _real_ man.”

 

Regulus laughed. “I suppose that we ought to head down to breakfast.”

 

“You missed breakfast.”

 

“Awww,” Regulus’s stomach growled.

 

“Never fear, Barty’s here,” Barty grinned, handing Regulus a croissant with some jam smeared in it. “I snuck this out of breakfast. It’s not much, but lunch is in, like, an hour, so~” Barty rambled.

 

“Barty, it’s perfect,” Regulus smiled up from his place on his bed at his friend. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” he grinned, “Hey, wanna go to the Black Lake? We could talk to Grendel or go underwater and hang with the mermaids.”

 

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

 

“Isn’t that the point?”

 

“Hmmm… convince me…”

 

“I learned some new dark spells, and Severus taught me a few more. Plus, I made up this one called _Spirare_ which lets a person breathe underwater.”

 

“How does that work?”

 

“Kind of like Gillyweed, because you get gills and your entire circulation system switches from double to single, but otherwise it’s not as painful~ emphasis on the ‘as’~ and it won’t wear-off until we say the countercurse~ _respirare_.”

 

“I’m going to need more…”

 

“Severus taught me a spell that allows you to shoot a beam directly through an object. It works on living beings as well and kills them instantly.”

 

“And I’m sold. Come on, let’s go.”

 

.

 

“Regulus, where were you at breakfast?” his mother hissed during lunch with the royals.

 

“I’m sorry mother. I know that it was unbecoming of me, but I was a bit tired after last night’s festivities,” he’d known that there would be hell to pay for his absence.

 

“We will discuss this further at a later point in time,” she beamed as Sirius entered the room with Evan.

 

Regulus turned to smile at his brother but was greeted by cold indifference. Fuck. Evan must’ve told him. Regulus turned to glare at Evan who was staring at his fork as though he wanted to stab someone with it.

 

Remus came to serve Arcturus his meal, given that he was Arcturus’s serving boy. Evan turned to glare at Remus. That was odd.

 

Regulus locked eyes with Barty. They both knew that something was awry, heck, Regulus was willing to bet that the entire table did. There was no way that they could’ve known about him and Remus, not unless the blasted werewolf had gone and blabbed to everyone, which he doubted.

 

“Sirius, dear, how was your evening?” his mother smiled saccharinely at Sirius.

 

“Good,” Sirius nodded, before glaring first at Regulus, then at Remus. “How was yours, Reg?”

 

“Fine,” Regulus nodded, forcing his voice to sound normal. “It was, uh, fine.”

 

“Good,” Sirius nodded, his voice barely more than a whisper.

 

.

 

Sirius knew. Of course Sirius knew. The Marauders had created a _fucking map_ of the _entire castle_ so that **_Sirius_** wouldn’t feel so lonely and would know what was going on in and around the castle.

 

And Sirius had been excited, of course, to share the map with his fiancé/soulmate when _it_ happened.

 

Two dots were moving especially fast over the same area, which caused Sirius to smirk, because that usually meant one thing: fucking. And then… and then he read their names.

 

Regulus Arcturus Black and Remus John Lupin.

 

He’d seen red. “What the fuck are my brother and best-friend doing alone in a room together?” he hissed, mostly to himself, not wanting to admit the obvious.

 

“Getting rather well-acquainted,” Evan hissed as well.

 

“I’m going to kill him.”

 

“Who?”

 

Sirius had to think about that one. “Honestly… honestly, I don’t know.”


	13. Choice Words

“What is with you? Why are you acting so weird?” went unsaid. Regulus knew full-well why Sirius was acting so weird. Obviously, Evan had fallen head-over-heels for the heir and had confessed about his and Regulus’s one-night stand. And obviously Sirius couldn’t accept the fact that his brother had debauched his to-be husband.

 

Instead, whenever he saw Sirius he turned and walked the other way, until nighttime when Sirius finally managed to corner him.

 

“I know you slept with Remus,” Sirius hissed.

 

Oh. That was it.

 

“What of it?” Regulus was genuinely confused. “Sorry Sirius, if I’d known that you’d be so upset, I wouldn’t have~”

 

“I’m _not_ upset.”

 

 _Then why have you been acting so coldly towards me?_ Regulus thought. “Alright then. So I can go?”

 

But Sirius grabbed his hand. “Just… he-he didn’t do anything funny, did y- _he_? Nothing to force you?”

 

“No.”

 

“And he didn’t hurt you?”

 

“He did a lot~ but ‘hurt’ is not the word I’d use,” Regulus laughed, oblivious to Sirius’s discomfort.

 

“Alright then. Good talk.”

 

.

 

“I’m leaving with you guys, then?” Regulus hesitated, looking at his fiancé.

 

“Yes. And the best part is that Severus has requested to come with us.”

 

Regulus blinked. That was… that was _great_ news! His two closest friends living in the same castle as him. Besides, he _really_ didn’t want to be in Grimmauld Palace any longer. Evan was there.

 

.

 

“You haven’t spoken to Remus yet, have you?” Evan murmured.

 

“No. I have nothing to say to him.”

 

“He’s your best-friend~”

 

“Who slept with my kid-brother. Yeah, he’s as good as dead to me.”

 

“You and I both know that you don’t mean that.”

 

That was true, Sirius supposed. A part of him still cared for Remus. Cared for him _greatly. **Unhealthily**_.

 

“Whatever. I have a lifetime to make amends with Remus. Regulus leaves a week after our wedding.”

 

“What?” Evan honestly couldn’t believe how upset he was over that. Wasn’t he supposed to be angry with Regulus? What was going on with him today? Why were his emotions all over the place?

 

On the one hand he had Sirius, which was great, and he very much liked Sirius. On the other hand he _really really_ liked Regulus, despite having _plenty_ of reasons to detest the male, and was insanely jealous about him spending a night with the Werewolf.

 

He wasn’t sure what to do. Should he tell Sirius? Sirius _did_ have a right to know. And there was no bullshit about this being ‘Regulus’s story to tell’ because it was his story too.

 

Which is why it made him feel all the more guilty that he had no intention of ever, _ever_ telling Sirius the truth. **_Ever_**.

 

.

 

“Why’re you being so cold to Remus?” James frowned, panting.

 

“Why don’t you ask him?” Sirius wiped the sweat from his brow. It had been a particularly grueling training session.

 

“Sirius, come on. Don’t do this, please?”

 

“He slept with Regulus.”

 

“What?” James blinked. “What the~ there’s no possible way!”

 

“I saw it on the map, James. How else would you explain two dots in Regulus’s room, _on his bed_ moving frantically over the same area for about ten minutes before stopping and staying still the rest of the night until Remus sneaks off the next morning?”

 

James gaped. He had no response.

 

“Exactly.”

 

“But-but isn’t your brother _engaged_?”

 

“Oh come off it, _everyone_ knows that that engagement means nothing. Barty and Regulus are friends and nothing more, _everyone_ knows that.”

 

Well, apparently not everyone.

 

“I can’t believe your brother would use Moony to get back at you like this!”

 

“How do you mean?”

 

James froze. “Uh, y-you know, just, uh… clearly he’s jealous from all the attention that’s been on you in court, I can’t believe that he’d seduce one of your best-friends to get back at you. This is just like the Black Lake incident.”

 

James was right. This _was_ just like the Black Water incident.

 

“My goodness! And here I was thinking that it was Remus who wronged Regulus, when it was _clearly_ Regulus who wronged Remus!” Sirius fumed. “If you excuse me, I am going to have some choice words with my brother.”

 

 _Actually_ …

 

.

 

“Sirius, dear, what ever is the matter?”

 

“I’ve just been concerned, mother, that Regulus is not living up to the expectations of the Crouchlanders in that he is purportedly rather promiscuous.”

 

Mrs. Black reeled back, scandalized. “Well, we can not have that at all! What do you propose, son?”

 

“I propose that Regulus and Barty cement their manage. Have them wed, tomorrow night. I am sure that we could arrange for it.”

 

“Why, most certainly.”


	14. Run

“What do you mean I’m ‘getting married today’?” Regulus sounded scandalized.

 

“I mean you are getting married today. On orders of the Queen.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Regulus, you and I both know full-well that I have no right to question the Queen’s decisions. Now come along, this pleases me no more than it pleases you.”

 

“I’ll run away.”

 

“You’ll do no such thing!” But Severus had winked at him. “As a servant to this house, it is my duty,” another wink, “to ensure that you obey the reigning monarchs requests,” more and more winks as Severus drew out his wand, holding it loosely.

 

“And if I were to disarm you?” Regulus pondered, eyeing said wand.

 

“Well, then I shall have no means of defending myself, _especially_ if you were to use one of those blasting curses which I taught you, like _pulso_ which would leave a physical remnant on my hand for about a week that I would absolutely be _forced_ to show the Queen!”

 

“Very well then, you leave me no choice!” Regulus shouted. “ _Pulso_!”

 

The wand flew, but they _both_ knew it was still Severus’s. His wand was a loyal one.

 

Regulus used a charm to turn himself invisible and fled the room, running and running and running. He made his first stop by Barty’s chambers.

 

“I’m running away now, care to join me?”

 

“Sure. My cousin Wallace wants the crown far more than I ever have anyways.”

 

The two ran and ran and ran and eventually made it to the stables. Regulus knocked out the stable hands present, and mounted a horse, directing Barty to do the same on another, and then the two began their escape out of the kingdom…

 

.

 

“What do you mean they're gone?” Sirius screeched.

 

“Gone. Left. Out,” Avery shrugged at his long time not-so-friend.

 

Drats! Regulus had fled before the punishment that Sirius could bestow upon him had been carried out. Part of him was genuinely concerned for his brother, most of him was just annoyed.

 

Oh well, he still had someone left to punish.

 

.

 

“Grandson, and to what do I owe this pleasure?” Arcturus greeted his, well, _grandson_.

 

“Grandfather, I have come with grim news,” internally he was smirking. “It seems that Regulus has run away.”

 

Arcturus froze. What the hell? “Why? He would never!” he felt his head spin despite the fact that he was sitting down. His grandson~ his late wife’s pride and joy… Regulus was a skilled magician no doubt, but there was no possible way that he could live off of the land forever. He was too delicate, too precious, too _beautiful_ to be safe in any given circumstance save for him being held in a castle.

 

“I know for a fact that he was having an affair with one of the palace servants, and therefore can only surmise that he must’ve fallen pregnant with one of their children, and ran away out of shame,” OK, there was no way that Regulus would have forgotten to take his potion, but there was also no way that Regulus was ever coming back (he felt a pang in his heart), so really, there was no reason to feel bad about slandering his brother’s name. After all, it’s not as though this was a public setting, this was merely him and his grandfather who _loved_ Regulus to hell and back.

 

“Which one?” his grandfather breathed.

 

“I shouldn’t say,” he feigned discomfort.

 

“Sirius, this-this _bastard_ has impregnated your sibling! Your _little brother_! It is not fair that he remain here while your brother roams the land, lost and confused. You must speak!”

 

“Remus Lupin,” Sirius bowed his head in ‘shame’ to conceal his smirk, feeling an unrelenting wave of guilt washing over him at the same time.

 

.

 

Watching Remus being carried away in chains was hard. It had been ordered that he remain in the dungeons until Regulus was found. Arcturus had agreed not to tell anybody that he had gained his information from Sirius.

 

Thankfully though, Sirius hadn’t had to watch Remus be carried away. He was too busy having sex with Evan.

 

The two being of a similar age, size and stature, neither of them were especially eager to submit to the other, ergo they took turns if any penetration was to be involved in the first place. Evan, being of noble blood, undoubtedly had the ability to fall pregnant, and would, in time, bear Sirius armies of children, but for now…

 

Sirius panted into Evan’s mouth as the two rutted against one another, their hard, lubricated cocks dragging across each other, eliciting sharp moans from both males.

 

Evan had captured Sirius’s bottom lip and was rolling it between his teeth while his hands clung onto Sirius’s back. Sirius had one arm around Evan’s back, and was using his free hand to toy with Evan’s nipples.

 

After a few minutes, Sirius’s free hand drifted lower to loosely encase both of their cocks~ or, well, as much of them as his hand could cover. Evan’s mouth drew back, letting out a moan of pure ecstasy. Sirius rutted up against Evan, harder and harder until…

 

It was like a tidal wave. Rocking through their bodies hard and fast. Pleasure was a beautiful thing, and the end result was both male’s chests painted with their release, which appeared semi-orange in the soft candle-light of the dark room.

 

Sirius let out a laugh, and fell back, Evan falling just slightly over him, drawing an arm around his waist possessively as the two bathed in the afterglow. Sirius had never felt this good.

 

So why did it feel… _wrong_. Like Evan’s weight wasn’t supposed to be over him right now.

 

And Evan? As he clung to Sirius, as though he would never let go, he found himself looking at the man below him’s skin. It was all wrong. It should have been paler, the man should have been smaller... _younger_.

 

.

 

Regulus had never, _ever_ felt this free in his life. Sure, he felt as though something was off with the universe for all of twenty minutes, as a deep despair inexplicably set over him, but Barty~ being the best best-friend _ever_ ~ had pulled him into a tavern and gotten him rip-roaringly drunk.

 

Now he was dancing with some guy with blonde hair and eyes like emeralds…

 

 _‘Wrong colour,’_ he thought, but frankly he didn’t care.

 

He was done with Evan~ had been over Evan for _days_. So fuck it, he was going to sleep with nice, dashing young man, and you could bet your bottom dollar that he was going to _enjoy_ it!

 

.

 

Remus felt odd. His skin was sweating. _‘Nerves_ ,’ he told himself. But that didn’t feel right. There was something else, _something_ …

 

He hadn’t meant to get Regulus pregnant. Hadn’t even known about it until he was being carried into the dungeons. As bad as his situation was, he felt worse for the poor boy. Everything that had happened to him: first Evan, then sleeping with Remus, then finding out that the wedding was preponed, then realizing he was pregnant!

 

Poor Regulus.


	15. Oh come on, we all knew that this was coming

“Hey… if your brother knew about you and Remus sleeping together and upset… you don’t think he’s the reason we were supposed to get married tonight,” Barty mused as he and Regulus gazed up at the stars together from the little deserted island between the Black Kingdom and Le Strange. And by island, I mean to say that it was about the same size as your average bedroom.

 

“Nah, Sirius wouldn’t do that… besides, he’s in love with your cousin.”

 

“So are you.”

 

“What?” Regulus sat up and twisted to face Barty so suddenly that Barty was surprised he didn’t just fall right back down.

 

“Reg, it’s OK. I know.”

 

“Did he tell you?” Regulus hissed.

 

“No. Well, he didn’t tell me before I knew. He only said anything because I confronted him about it.”

 

Regulus sighed, sinking back onto the ground. “Well, it doesn’t matter anyways. Sirius and he are soulmates.”

 

“So?”

 

“So?” Regulus repeated, scandalized. “ _So_ , they’re meant for each other! They’re each other’s one and onlys!”

 

“Then why does he look at you longingly and despondently whenever he’s in the same room as you?”

 

“He~ wait, what?” Regulus frowned. Uhhh… Evan never did that.

 

“Yeah. He looks so forlorn whenever someone mentions me and your upcoming marriage… or, well, _ex-_ upcoming marriage.”

 

“That’s preposterous!” Regulus thought for a bit. “And even if he did, he probably just pities me. Let’s face it, nobody in the castle thinks we’re anything other than friends. And he probably feels bad for sleeping with me at other times. He is to be my brother, it’s fraternal care, nothing more.”

 

“ _Right_ …” Barty rolled his eyes. “Anyways, what I was saying was that maybe we should have grabbed Remus when we made our escape? In case he’s in trouble now?”

 

“What?” Regulus frowned. “Nah, no way. There’s no way that Sirius would hurt him.”

 

.

 

“You _idiot_!” James seethed. “How could you knock up an engaged prince!?”

 

“I’m sorry,” Remus sighed. “Do you know if he’s safe?”

 

“Sirius? Yeah.”

 

“I meant Regulus.”

 

That only served to further infuriate James.

 

“You have honestly got to be fucking kidding me,” he growled. “Regulus screwed with you~ his brother’s _best-friend_ ~ as, what? Some petty way of getting back at him for being the one Evan actually _wants_ , I don’t know. Then, not only did he run away, but _somehow_ it got out that you two slept together, and I’m guessing that he fucking told _someone_ because how else would people run around assuming that he was pregnant!? Oh, and he took Barty with him, and neglected to warn you that people knew, and now you’re here, and _you’re still fUCKING DEFENDING HIM!?_ LOOK AT YOURSELF, REMUS! YOU’RE IN HERE WHILE HE’S OUT FREE. HE PLAYED YOU, AND YOU FEEL _BAD_ FOR HIM!?” James exploded. “I can’t even look at you right now,” he whispered, before stalking off and leaving a stunned Remus in his wake.

 

James was right, Remus figured, curling up and sobbing brokenly into his knees. His life was in shambles, he was trapped down here, Sirius hadn’t even come to see him _once_ ~ probably too disgusted, Remus thought bitterly~ and he was busy worrying about some spoilt-rotten prince who probably didn’t even give a crap about him.

 

No, he thought to himself, furious. I’m not worried about him. Not any more than I have to be to be worried about my child.

 

.

 

“Where are you going?” Evan frowned, watching Sirius put on riding boots.

 

“I’m going after my brother.”

 

“We wed tomorrow.”

 

“And he should be here for that.”

 

“I thought that you were angry with him.”

 

“I was~ _am_ ~ but I do believe that this has gone on long enough. It’s been three days.”

 

“Exactly, he and my cousin will be long gone by now. Nobody will be able to find them.”

 

“That is where you are wrong. Whilst my brother is highly adept at sorcery, he has never been able to hide from me.”

 

“Take me with you?”

 

“What?” Sirius frowned, unsure if he’d misheard.

 

“Take me with you, I mean it,” at Sirius’s confused look, he continued. “Look, Sirius, Barty’s my cousin, and Regulus is to be my brother,” would that make his thoughts towards the younger male incestuous? “And besides, I am a trained guard, I served as the head of my division. Let me come with you.”

 

Sirius looked as though he were debating, but eventually he nodded. “Tell no one, I'm serious,” at Evan’s smirk, he rolled his eyes. “I’m not even telling James about this.”

 

.

 

“You’re going somewhere without me?” James smirked cockily, a backpack slung over his shoulders. Sirius cursed.

 

“We’re looking for Regulus!” Evan chimed in.

 

Sirius shot a betrayed glare at Evan. “Yeah, we’re going to go and bring him home.”

 

“There’re already search-parties out trying to do that,” James barely managed to contain an eye-roll.

 

“Yeah, but they don’t know Reg as well as I do. Now are you in, or are you out?”

 

James sighed. “I'm in, I guess.” If nothing else, then because Regulus was pregnant with his dunderhead of a best-friend’s child.

 

“Great. Come on, let’s go.”

 

.

 

“Master, I do not know what to do!” Snape sighed in annoyance. “Black and Rosier will be out of my sphere of influence within moments.”

 

The face in the fire hummed for a moment. “Very well then, Severus… bring me Pettigrew.”

 

 


	16. Familiarity

“Peter, what are you doing here!?” James gasped. They’d taken their first stop and guess who had jumped out of his rucksack and transformed back into a human? Peter.

 

“I’m here to help!” the boy squeaked.

 

Evan looked at the sniveling boy in disgust. How on earth was _this_ guy going to be _any_ help?

 

“Great, so it’s the Marauders sans Remus,” Evan was sure that the jibe had been both intentional and unintentional, nevertheless, Sirius bristled.

 

“I suppose so. Peter, be a lamb and fetch us some drinks,” Sirius commanded.

 

“Aye, sir,” and the boy scurried off.

 

“You can’t actually think that he’ll be useful, can you?” Evan frowned at Sirius.

 

“You’d be surprised. His Animagus is a rat, it comes in handy in certain situations.”

 

“Like?”

 

“If we’re captured, or need a messenger, or need to get some food but can’t pay for it.”

 

“You mean stealing?”

 

“ _Pilfering_.”

 

“What’s the difference?”

 

“Pilfering sounds less bad.”

 

Evan sighed. _This_ was the man that he was betrothed to. Great, just great.

 

.

 

“So where are we headed to?”

 

“Well, we can’t go over to Le Strange, Bella’ll turn us over in a heartbeat.”

 

“What about Malfoie?” Regulus had family there, Barty reasoned, _good_ family, surely it would be safe.

 

“Nah. I trust Cissa, but Lucius…” he made a distasteful face.

 

“Ave Eerie?”

 

“Nah, none of them’ve married a Black in a while, so they need to be more diplomatic than the others unless they want to lose a valuable trading partner.”

 

“Then why don’t we just leave?”

 

“I beg your pardon?” wasn’t that what they were doing?

 

“I mean, let’s just leave the Greater Kingdom.”

 

Regulus paled. “You’re joking.”

 

“No, seriously, I mean it. Let’s go _out_! We could move to a different continent! I heard of this really cool one called Asia! Or we could go Eastwards, there’s this king, Igor Karkaroff II, he’s supposedly kind on exiles, I’m sure he’d take us in~ we’re _princes_!”

 

“Not without some kind of catch,” Regulus blushed, nervous. This was bad, he’d wanted to run away, of course, but to leave the continent? That was _madness_!

 

“Well, he has children, I’m sure that we could marry them or just marry into some other noble family there. It would bind our house to theirs, open up potential new trade-routes, _and_ we’re not related in the least bit to any of _them_ , so at least this way we won’t be committing incest, unlike if we stay here!”

 

Barty was right. He and Regulus were seventh-cousins, yes, but given that inbreeding had happened previously in their line as well, their blood wasn’t exactly the healthiest. Look at the Blacks, Regulus’s own parents were second cousins, and had been wed. No wonder madness ran in their family.

 

“OK,” Regulus whispered. “I suppose that we’re running off to Russia then.”

 

“Huzzah!”

 

.

 

“Here are your drinks,” Pettigrew nervously handed Sirius and Evan drinks before making his way over to James and handing him his own.

 

Evan chugged it down bitterly. Stupid Sirius for dragging them all here and being so petulant; stupid Regulus for being… well, _Regulus_ (and for getting knocked up); stupid Barty for running away with him; stupid James for being such a stuck-up prick; stupid Pettigrew for being, well, _Pettigrew_ ; and lastly, stupid himself for repeatedly fucking everything up. When he’d found out that Sirius was his soulmate, he should’ve said no to coming back to the Black Kingdom with Regulus, should’ve fought harder… oh well.

 

He looked at Sirius. But that would’ve been a mistake, wouldn’t it? Even though there were those nagging feelings for Regulus, Sirius was the love of Evan’s life. If the others weren’t here, he’d take Sirius right then, right there… actually, screw the others, they should’ve known better to invade a couple’s get-away time.

 

He leaned over and kissed Sirius hard on the mouth. Sirius moaned and kissed back. James made childish retching noises, and Pettigrew was flustered. Good. Served them right.

 

.

 

The air was cold to the east. Well, cold _er_.

 

They were still at least two-days by broom away from their final destination.

 

“We could always go to an Ambassador, ask them to floo us in?” Barty offered.

 

“No. They would not risk helping us run away to Karkaroff’s lands. It is one thing if we arrive there on our own, and another entirely if we are to receive aide. If our parents decided to take it as kidnapping, then we’d have a war on our hands.”

 

Barty sighed. “I suppose that you have a fair point. It still sucks, though, doesn’t it? Flying two days in this weather.”

 

“We could wait until spring.”

 

“Where? Look around, Reg, there’s not really any good places to wait.”

 

“What if we went south instead? We could go to Flamelle or Bumblebee.”

 

“I’m not so sure that they would be so receptive to us. Remember, Reg, those are kingdoms where muggles live, and we all committed mass genocide against our muggle populations.”

 

“True…” Regulus took a breath. “Back into the frigid cold we go.”

 

“Yes, but that is a bitter experience for tomorrow,” Barty took off his boots and placed them in front of the fire of their shared room. He wiggled his toes by the fire and sighed in pleasure as the feeling in his toes returned. He’d have to do his fingers next… maybe if they had time he’d do his nose?

 

Regulus simply rolled his eyes at his friend’s theatrics and cast a heating charm on the both of them.

 

.

 

“What do you mean they’ve left the Greater Kingdom?” James frowned.

 

“I mean that they’ve left. They’re gone. Padfoot can sense it, and the scrying charm I used proves that they’re heading east.”

 

“No,” James blinked. “No, no, _no_! Today is your wedding day, Sirius, you can _not_ keep hunting for your brother like this!”

 

“We’ve come this far! Besides, I hardly think that my fiancé minds, does he?” he asked Evan.

 

“Most certainly not,” Evan nodded. He had to admit, he himself was worried for Regulus. And Barty.

 

“Perfect, so we can keep looking, now… what lies to the east?” Sirius hummed.

 

Evan gasped. “They're going to Karkaroff’s Kingdom! They must be! When Barty first found out that he was having an arranged marriage, he considered running away there, it was all he could talk about until he found out he was engaged to Reg.”

 

“Reg?” Sirius frowned. “I was unaware that you and my brother were so familiar.”

 

“Yeah, well,” if Evan noticed James’s triumphant smirk behind him, he said nothing about it, “we travelled to the Black Kingdom together, right? And we, uh, we talked.”

 

Sirius nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. ‘Why’ve you two been so distant then?’

 

“Wait…” Pettigrew frowned, “S-Sirius, isn’t a trip to the East rather perilous? Regulus is _pregnant_!”

 

Sirius shook his head, unwilling to reveal to his friends that Regulus wasn’t pregnant. They’d ask him how he knew and then he’d have to confess that he’d fabricated the entire thing to get Remus in trouble~ his grandfather, Arcturus, had been so gracious in leaving Sirius’s name out of the whole affair.

 

“Maybe, but he wouldn’t have a choice, now would he?” Sirius turned to his friends. “It’s not like Bumblebee or Flamelle would accept him, he’s a _Black_ , and staying in the Greater Kingdom would surely result in him being turned back over to our parents.”

 

“Sirius is right,” James nodded, “We should go back to the castle and inform your parents.”

 

“No!” Sirius protested. “They can’t send an army in there, it would be an act of war, an envoy would be dismissed, we’re the only ones who can do this.”

 

“Sirius is right,” Evan nodded. He’d spent his first decade and a half of life in court, he knew that this was the only way that it could go if they wanted Regulus and Barty back.

 

“Then let’s go back, get you married, and _then_ see what we can do about this!”

 

“No! My parents will stall, the child will be born a Karkaroffian!” Sirius protested, playing on the lie. “We must leave now!”

 

Sirius hopped on his broom. Yes, that’s right, he went to the stables and picked a broom out instead of a horse. “Onward!”


End file.
